Destiny's Choice
by Anna Aurela
Summary: He was hated... hated by all... until one day, all of the hatred changed. Changed into something he couldn't quite describe...
1. Chapter Prologue

**Prologue:**

**And there she was... just sitting there on that rock... waiting for something magical to appear on the horizon. Her eyes were like a child's, just waiting for her surprise. As he walked closer to her, he began to become tense. He did not think he was ready for what she about to say to him... at least, he thought so. But, no matter how scared they both were, he knew it had to be done, and nothing could change it. The past could not be changed for the present or for the future. So he gained his composer, and, as quietly as he could not wanting to frighten her, he made his way towards her. The closer he got, the more his eyes acted just as hers were...**

**Dancing...**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

...Crunch... crunch... crunch...

The taste of sand in her mouth, the sweat drizzling from her forehead, and the hard, uncomfortable floor she was lying on made Raxiel awaken from a hard yet almost pleasant sleep.

...Crunch... crunch... crunch...

Her eyes slowly opened. Even though her mind was telling her to get up and to examine the area, her eyes only opened halfway, and her body, too weak to even barely move, only strained her to keep still and sleep more.

...Crunch... crunch... crunch...

"But wait..." she thought in her mind, "Why is my body so tense about moving? Is there something wrong with me? I wonder if I was attacked while I was unconscious...

...Crunch... crunch... crunch...

"If something is wrong with me, I wonder what it is. I don't feel any pain, no blood...-"

...Crunch... crunch... crunch...

"And what the heck is that crunching noise? That's really starting to bug me."

...Crunch... crunch... crunch...

Finally convincing herself to get up, she slowly moved her arms beside her chest and raised her head and part of her chest up with her hands pushing into the ground. She could barely see anything with her eyes only being half open. "How irritating," she thought to herself. "My muscles are barely able to lift my eyelids. Come on! Work!" But seeing as though her muscles could barely work, she closed her eyes for a few seconds, and, as quickly as she could, she opened them as much as possible. As soon as her eyes were open to their fullest, she saw another obstacle in her way. The sun beat down into her eyes like a bright flashlight shining directly into her eyes, straining them and giving her a headache. But she did not let that stop her from her goal of getting up. She raised herself up a few more inches, hoping her muscles were getting back to their normal self.

...Crunch... crunch... crunch...

Raxiel could smell a very powerful stench that smelt like an old body... an old, dead body.

"What is going on here?" she thought.

As soon as she stopped looking at the ground and looked at eye level, suddenly she could see a person's shoes. Confused as to why as could be seeing shoes, Raxiel looked up and saw a person in front of her. His face was covered by a mask, and his figure was somewhat thin. As soon as she was done staring at the man dumbfoundedly, she finally took attention to something else.

"So that's what that 'crunch' noise is."

In his hand, the masked man had an apple almost halfway eaten. Realizing that the annoying sound had come from him, Raxiel smirked at him. Noticing her body had recovered somewhat, she tried to stand up. As she was about to get on her feet, she could feel her muscles contracting. She stopped herself and decided just to sit up.

While Raxiel had been trying her best to wake up form her unconsciousness, the man had been watching her from the rock while eating the last half of his apple. As soon as Raxiel had sat up to a regular, comfortable position, the man became more intrigued by her. About to take the last few bites of his fruit, the man abruptly stopped. Quickly, he smirked and jumped off of the rock. Raxiel noticed a shadow movement, and looked up to find the man looking down at her. Laughing to himself, the man kneeled down beside her, the apple extended towards her. With a mysterious and enticed voice, the man began to speak to her.

"I've been wondering when you were going to wake up. You look tired and hungry. Here, I'll share this with you."

Moving the apple closer to her, the man looked into her eyes playfully. Raxiel notices the man's awkward behavior. Without hesitation, she began to scoot away from the man. Still looking at her trickily, the man stood up and started to walk towards her. Now lurking over her, the man stood still holding the apple to her face, each second the apple getting closer to her mouth. Raxiel, with enough energy and adrenaline to move freely, moved her head to look another way as to reject the piece of food the was being held to her mouth. The man, still creeping towards her, laughed to himself.

"What's the matter? All this is is an apple with a little spit on it."

The man very ruthlessly spitted in Raxiel's face. Raxiel grimaced at him. As her adrenaline rushed faster in her body, she slapped the man's arm hard and stood up as fast as she could. The man flinched, now getting more impatient and frustrated at her. Shaking off his irritation, the man stood up laughing once again. He tossed the apple into the forest a few feet away from them and stared at her, smiling.

"You wanna play now?" he said in a playful way.

Getting more frustrated at the man, Raxiel looked around to make sure no one else was with him. Getting ready to attack her, the man took out a dagger that was sharp and ready for killing. Raxiel soon readied herself for the fight that was about to begin, and she quickly slid out her two trusty blades from their sheaths. Quickly she readied her self for his first attack.

But what she didn't know was that she really wasn't ready for what his first move was...

Suddenly, without knowing, the man took his hands and put them into the ground, causing the ground to shake and make what seemed like an earthquake. Raxiel fell to the ground from not bracing herself for the surprise.

"Great... right where I started from," Raxiel thought as she glared at the man.

The man seemingly smiled as he slowly rose up and walked towards her. He stepped on her arms, trying to break them by putting his full weight onto them. Raxiel yelled in pain as his full weight was forced onto her arms. He kneeled down onto her lower stomach and grabbed the collar of her shirt. Raxiel forcefully began to be lifted up. The man took the dagger he had and put it to the left of Raxiel's face. He caressed it to her face slicing her skin open. As Raxiel flinched, the man put the dagger to her throat and caressed it downwards causing her to bleed again. Raxiel looked at the man with anger. The man noticed her rage and raised her shirt up farther. leaving enough space to put the dagger in between her and her shirt. In a quiet and revengeful voice, he spoke to her one last time.

"I hope you're not... too attached to this. -"

"I wouldn't hope for anything," came an unknown voice from behind the man.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The man looked upwards with a shocked face. He gasped and dropped the dagger beside Raxiel's face. He let go of her in a frightened manner. Raxiel was beginning to wonder why he was so nervous, but then her question was quickly answered.

Raxiel looked down beside her where the man's legs were…

The man looked behind him where Raxiel was also glancing…

And what they both saw was sand covering his legs. The man could feel the sand hardening by the second. He turned his head to try to see the enigma. Raxiel tried to catch a glance at him, as well, but as her muscles contracted again, she passed out.

"What do you want?" called the masked man angrily.

"…I want you dead," the enigma replied softly. He motioned his hand, which somehow caused more sand to crawl up the body of the other man. The masked man became engulfed in sand and was soon suffocated from being submerged in it. The enigma moved his hand causing the sand to lift the dead body up and drop it onto the ground beside the thick forest surrounding the road where the battle had been. As he began to make his way over to Raxiel, he smirked contentedly knowing that he had killed another annoying person. Once he had made it to Raxiel, he stopped to glance down at her.

"She looks pale… Probably from losing so much blood…" he thought to himself.

Her thick, brown hair was a mess. She was still sweating making her look like she had just gotten out of a shower.

The enigma saw no personal gain in waiting for her, but, when he looked at her helpless face, he somehow wanted to know more about her. The man sat down on the same rock the now dead man had been sitting on beforehand. He glanced at the girl one more time, watching her chest rise and fall. Forcefully taking his eyes off of her, he waited for her to awaken. After what seemed like countless hours (but what were really just minutes), Raxiel started to stir. She opened her eyes to see the unsmiling enigma staring far out into the distance. Raxiel raised herself up into a cross-legged position. Snapping out of his mesmerization, the man looked down at her. Her big, dark brunette eyes caught his attention. Raxiel noticed and glanced at his jaded eyes. Knowing she was safe, the enigma stood up and started to walk away slowly, but soon he heard a shuffling of hurried feet behind him.

Raxiel tried to stand up as quickly as possible, making her feet shuffle and slide on the loose earth from not having any strength. She hesitantly called out to him.

"Hey, wait!"

The enigma stopped. He rotated his head slightly to the side to catch his eye on her. Raxiel noticed and began to feel uneasy. Finally gathering enough courage to speak, she started to softly talk to him.

"Thank you. Well, I mean, -"

Shocked by her gratitude, the man looked down afraid to show his emotion to her. Raxiel gained her composure, once more and began to speak to him.

"I don't mean to bother you anymore, but do you know where I am?"

The man was flabbergasted. Never before in his life had anyone wanted to talk to him. Always feared by people and hated by everyone, people called him "monster" or "demon". But when he looked into her eyes, he sensed no fear in them. He sensed hesitation, but it was a different kind of hesitation. He liked this hesitation. He became even more intrigued by her and looked back at her again this time noticing how she was looking at him curiously, making him even more curious about her. Waiting for his answer, Raxiel watched him with as much patience as she could. Finally, the enigma began to reply in an almost inaudible voice.

"There's a village up ahead where I am heading towards. You're… -"

"Should I really ask her?" he thought. " She'd never agree…"

He spoke to her again, "You're welcome to join me, since you're in no condition to defend yourself."

"Darn it!" he thought again. "Why did I just ask her? She's just another weak human like the rest of them."

Another voice in his head started to speak to him, "Wait until she's not looking at you, and you can slit her throat."

"I'd like that very much. Thank you," Raxiel replied.

"There she goes again!" he thought "Saying 'thank you' again."

As Raxiel began to try to stand up, her muscles began to contract, making her fall back down to the ground. The enigma watched her nonchalantly, still a little amused from watching her. Raxiel tried to stand up, but failed again. Knowing it was futile, she crawled over to the rock both enigmas had sat on. She grasped part of the huge boulder with her hand and slowly climbed her way to her feet. Just as she was about to stand straight up, suddenly her muscles weakened, knocking the wind out of her. She gasped trying to get herself to breathe. She let go of the rock and wrapped her arms around her stomach, breathless. Slowly, she began to sink further to the ground. She closed her eyes concentrating to get more energy to control her muscles when suddenly she felt something grip her waist. The grip slowly pulled her upwards, letting Raxiel breathe and take hold of the boulder again.

Raxiel looked behind her, **and there he was. The enigma holding her up, making sure she didn't fall back down again. It had seemed to Raxiel that he had anticipated her fall. He reminded her of a safety net, just waiting to catch her as soon as she fell. Raxiel tried to hide the redness in her face. The enigma noticed her blushed face and as soon as she was standing on her own two feet let her go gently.**

The man took a few steps forward and stopped beside her. Sensing her breathing was harsh, he took out a canteen and moved it towards her.

"You thirsty?" he asked quietly.

Raxiel's eyes widened. "Why would he give me his canteen?" she thought, beginning to feel more uneasy about him. She cautiously looked at the man's eyes, but they were still calm and serious. She hesitantly took the canteen.

"Thank you."

The enigma watched as her soft, full lips touched the canteen. As she swallowed, he watched her throat as it moved up and down. He stared at it hypnotically, somehow reminding him of his past. As soon as she had sipped the water, she gently held it out for him to take. He took the canteen and put it away. Shaking off his 'laziness,' he finally started to walk forward.

"Let's go," he said blandly to her. As he started to walk, he could hear her feet touching the ground each time she took a step. He noticed her pace was uneven and finally looked behind him to find that she was limping ever so slightly.

"A nurse should be able to take care of your injuries," he stated.

"It's nothing, really. I'm just weak, but I'll get my strength back soon."

Silence fell over them for the next ten minutes or more.

"Darn it!" the enigma thought, cursing at himself. "You had the perfect opportunity to slit her throat right then when you were helping her up. And now you want to make a friend?" The man really couldn't believe he hadn't killed her, but something was holding him back from hurting her. Something strange wanted him to get to know her more… and more… and more…

"I'm Gaara of the Desert," he said, trying to shake off his inner-self. "You are?"

"Oh, just Raxiel," she stated nonchalantly.

"Raxiel…" he thought to himself. "That name… it's almost alluring… -"

"Say, Gaara," Raxiel said, interrupting his thoughts, "what's in the gourd?" she said, curiously staring at the gourd he was carrying on his back.

"Sand," he said dully.

"Oh…"

Noticing her confusion, Gaara looked back at her. He knew she was just trying to make conversation to be friendly, and normally, it irritated Gaara when people asked him questions. He looked at her eyes and saw disappointment in them, but from what? Somewhere in the back of his head he didn't want her to be disappointed. Trying to take her mind off of whatever she was thinking, he decided to continue with the subject they had been talking about.

Hesitantly, he continued, "It's… one of my weapons."

Raxiel glanced up at his eyes, understanding that he was not finished talking with her. She responded back to him, "Oh! Like your weapon you use?"

Gaara noticed her eager face for a reply.

"This girl, -" he thought, "she's different…"

"You could say that," he told her, still looking back at her. Raxiel noticed his glance as she looked into his light green eyes and smiled at him. Gaara stared at her smile for almost too long. He finally looked forward, baffled at his own actions. After a few long minutes of silence, he could hear Raxiel catching up to him.

"Stay in front. Don't let her get beside you. Show her who's boss," a voice inside Gaara told him, but his body didn't listen. Casually, he slowed down his pace, and after walking a few more strides; her feet were gliding along at the same pace. Her body was next to his. Suddenly, he had an urge to look over at her again to see if she was still smiling, but he controlled himself. Once they had walked a few miles, a village finally started to appear. Raxiel looked over at Gaara, and once she did, he started to become tense. He finally glanced at her, revealing to Raxiel his tenseness that he did not want her to know about.

"Are you okay, Gaara?"

The instant he heard her voice, he quickly shook off his taught face and replied abruptly. "Yeah… I'm fine."

Gaara noticed her face was filled with concernment.

"Does she… actually care about me?" he thought, somewhat shocked at the question he had just asked himself.

But soon, his concentration was snatched away from him by her gentle voice.

"Huh?"

Gaara heard Raxiel and noticed her attention was directed elsewhere. He looked in front of them at where she was looking and saw a blonde-haired boy their age being chased by another man a few years older. The blonde-haired boy was laughing while holding up a small piece of paper. The other man was chasing the boy angrily, yelling at him. Impatiently, the man called out to the boy, "Naruto! You can't just steal my coupon! Give it back!"

The blonde-haired boy though seemed pleased with the attention. He laughed even harder, looking as though he was having the time of his life. The man was still yelling at him, getting more and more frustrated at the boy.

Raxiel started to laugh quietly. Hearing her laughter, Gaara glanced at her, amused by her cheerful attitude. She quickly covered her mouth to quiet her laughter as it started to grow louder.

And then something that Gaara would never have thought happened…

He relaxed…

Her laughter made him relax…

Gaara ever so slightly smirked at her. Knowing she was happy made him feel different. A kind of different he had never experienced before.

As they made their way towards the diversion, the two strangers kept going at it. It was like a never-ending game of chase.

Still amused by the absurd scene, Raxiel stopped to watch the two. Quickly noticing, Gaara stopped beside her. Soon Raxiel's smile grew even bigger as they kept watching the scene second after second.

Finally realizing he was being watched, the blonde-haired looked around and finally spotted Gaara and Raxiel both watching him and his used-to-be teacher run around in the big circle they were making. He quickly stopped in his tracks, and the older man, charging right at him, ran into him, toppling onto him. While on top of the younger man, the brown-haired sensei snatched the coupon from him.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

"Aaah! Got'cha!" the sensei said, relieved. He finally got off of the younger man, quick to also notice Gaara and Raxiel watching. He smiled at them politely.

"Hi there," he greeted as he was walked over to them. Raxiel smiled at him genially, and Gaara watched her, realizing how relaxed she was with talking to him. Gaara shifted his gaze towards the slightly older man, noticing his body language between him and Raxiel. Beginning to become jealous, Gaara's smirk soon vanished. Gaara thought that the older man's smile at Raxiel seemed almost too kind.

Soon the man slightly blushed with embarrassment. "I hope you didn't watch us the whole time we were going at it," he said nervously.

"No, we just got here," said Raxiel, her laughter quietly returning. The man smiled, even more intrigued by her. Gaara began to become annoyed by the stranger.

Suddenly, the blonde-haired boy quickly stood up and ran over to them. "Iruka-sensei! I really am hungry! Can you, please, just let it slide by once?" he whined, looking at the man, this time, with seriousness in his face.

The man looked down at him and smiled. "Alright. Fine, but next time, could you just ask, please?" Soon the older man held out the coupon for which they had been wrestling, and, in the blink of an eye, the blonde-haired snatched it, looking at it pleasantly. He looked at the sensei gratefully. "Thank you! Oh, thank you, thank you thank you!" and quickly he darted towards the town.

Raxiel had finally quit laughing once they were all watching the "lightning bolt" charge into the village. Once he had disappeared from their sight, the sensei turned around to face them again, smiling at them, once again. "Please, excuse the scene. My name is Iruka. Tell me, are you new here?"

Raxiel returned the smile as Gaara only glared at him. "I am; I'm not sure about Gaara though."

Iruka looked over at the scowling redhead. "Gaara, I assume?" he asked.

Gaara mumbled a reply to the man, "…Yeah." Gaara had already come to a conclusion: he hated this guy's guts. Iruka smiled at him only for a moment until he placed his eyes back on Raxiel's. "Who might you be?" he asked politely to Raxiel. Looking a little embarrassed, Raxiel apologetically replied, "I'm sorry! My name is Raxiel."

Iruka began to look at her even more curiously. Gaara soon caught on, and interrupted his mesmerization on Raxiel. "Come on, Raxiel. Let's get you to a nurse." Turning her focus on Gaara again, Raxiel nodded in agreement, but before they could leave, Iruka began to speak again. "If you're looking for a nurse, there should be one who lives close to the town. Just ask the owner of the ramen shop where she is; he should know," the sensei said. Raxiel nodded to Iruka gratefully. "Thank you."

Iruka paused hesitantly. "Umm if you're here tomorrow, perhaps we can talk again." Raxiel was about to respond, but she noticed Gaara was already stalking away. Forgetting Iruka's invitation, she quickly sprinted to catch up to him.

Gaara didn't wait for her. He didn't look back to see if she was coming or not. Another person had rejected him. Another regular person had won her companionship. Trying to make her voice inaudible, he grunted as she caught up to him.

"Hey, Gaara," she said sounding like her full strength had almost returned, "what's the rush?"

"You need to see a nurse quickly," he said almost uncaringly.

Raxiel noticed his strange behavior. "Actually, I think I'm okay. I can just go tomorrow, since it's pretty late."

Gaara remained silent.

As they walked into the town, Raxiel started to scrutinize the area, noticing all of the different shops and how unique each one was. Quickly, she caught sight of an ice cream parlor and smirked.

Gaara was just about to ditch Raxiel, knowing she'd be fine with this Iruka guy. She seemed happy with Iruka instead of hesitant like she was with him…

"But she wasn't scared," he thought. "She really is different, but darn it! She could never care about me…"

Looking down trying to think of something to say to ditch her, he was suddenly taken by surprise to find someone's hand grabbing his arm. He looked up to see that it was Raxiel. She was pulling at his arm, smiling at him genially. In fact, it seemed she was smiling at him even more affectionately than the smile she had given that Iruka guy.

Raxiel tugged at his arm again. "Come on, Gaara! Let's eat something."

"Huh? What? It's midnight. Aren't you tired?" he asked her, still trying to ditch her.

"We've been walking all night. Don't you want something cold to soothe your body? Besides, I've got money, and I'll pay for it."

"Get rid of her, Gaara!" the voice inside him called. Noticing her eager face, Gaara quickly turned the voice inside him off and returned his attention to her again. Finally, he closed his eyes and nodded. Raxiel, pleased by herself to get him to go with her, finally let go of him and smiled a smile just like the one the blonde-haired kid had when he had received the coupon.

As they walked into the parlor, Gaara sat down as Raxiel paid for the pleasurable treats. She sat down next to him as they ate them.

"Is this your home-town?" Raxiel asked. Gaara looked over at her. He watched as her tongue made its way over her lips to wipe off the excess ice cream. He started to wonder what her lips tasted like…

"Gaara? Are you okay?"

Snapping out of his concentration, he quickly replied, "Yeah. I'm fine." He soon noticed her happy face turning into concernment, but she didn't ask him anymore questions. Gaara kept his eyes out the window that was right next to him.

He wondered…

Wondered what kept her from asking more questions like she had been doing in the past…

With their treats eaten, they began to walk towards a hotel that Gaara knew was by the village.

But Raxiel, on the other hand, came to a conclusion that she wasn't sleepy. She looked beside her at Gaara to see that he was staring ahead at the road.

"Hey, Gaara-"

"Curse it!" he thought. "Her voice… It's too…-"

"I'm not tired; I'm just going to hang outside tonight."

Not liking what she had just said, he tried to come up with an excuse to get her inside where it was safe. " …Raxiel -"

"I'll be fine. Hey, I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Thanks for everything," she said hurriedly, and quickly she began to walk away, not wanting him to persuade her into getting a room.

Gaara watched the brunette slip away from him. He examined her from bottom to top, watching her disappear little by little. And as she got farther away from him, he couldn't help but feel that he needed to be beside her in the that dark night.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

After walking around the town for a few hours, Raxiel started to yawn… more… and more…

"I should have just gotten a room," she thought, getting more frustrated with her decision to walk around town the whole night. Her feet felt like thirty-pound weights, forcing her downwards into the ground where she wished a bed that she could fall into would be waiting for her. She was starting to make her way back towards the hotel when something caught her attention. She smirked, noticing a ladder that led up to a high rooftop. "Perfect!" she thought.

As she made her way towards the ladder, she carefully examined the place to make sure nobody was looking at her, even though there were only about ten people in the streets. She mildly tested the ladder to make sure it wouldn't break.

Finally making her way to the top of the ladder, she looked straight ahead of her to see the maize colored rooftop. She gently stepped onto it and looked around making sure there were no windows for anyone to spy on her. She slowly made her way towards the middle of the roof looking up at the sky. Making herself more comfortable, Raxiel sat down and soon began to look around, seeing that all of the stores were closing. As the store's lights began to turn off, the area began to get darker and darker. Soon the only light available was that of the stars and the almost full moon.

Raxiel had just lain down when she started to feel the roof vibrate ever so slightly. She sat up again, wondering what the noise was. She looked to her right where the noise had come from and, to her surprise, saw someone's shoes. Even more to her bewilderment, she recognized whose shoes they were. She raised her head up slowly, and quickly saw a familiar pair of jaded eyes gazing down at her. Raxiel's mouth opened a little.

"G-Gaara? What the heck are you doing here?" she asked simply scared out of her mind. He appeared to have known her uneasiness and shifted his glance elsewhere to try to calm her down. Very unenthusiastically, he replied, "What are you doing trespassing on someone else's property?" Raxiel slightly gasped. "Even though… I'm sure that person would never know," Gaara said, knowing he had scared her again. Raxiel managed a heavy sigh. "I didn't even think about that," she admitted very softly. Gaara looked back down at her, and, realizing she wasn't so tense anymore, he sat down quietly beside her. Raxiel then gave him a curious face. "Didn't you get a room at the hotel?" she asked him. Gaara shifted his gaze over to a shopping sign that was at eye level to him on the other side of the street. "No, I wasn't tired." Raxiel nodded, understanding exactly what he meant. Figuring out what his eyes were looking at, she soon found herself gazing at the same shopping sign that he was also mesmerized by for a few minutes. Knowing that all was well, she laid back down trying to enjoy the view of the stars on the clear night.

"So she is tired, after all," Gaara thought to himself. "How long is she planning to keep this act up?"

As if Raxiel could read his mind, she began to speak to him almost hypnotically, "When I made my way up to the roof, I couldn't help but yawn. I guess I was tired, after all. That's the whole reason why I came up here, to sleep under the stars." Gaara looked at her again; her eyes were closed. He couldn't help but begin to smirk at her. She seemed to have a certain aura around her that Gaara wanted to get in and lose himself…

Sleep…

Peaceful Dreams…

Raxiel smiled as the wind blew. "So what's up with you? How did you find me?"

Gaara froze. He couldn't really tell her why he wasn't sleepy, why he had tracked her down and then stalked her the rest of the night. He just couldn't; it would be too awkward.

"I guess we just both had the same idea at the same time," he stated.

Raxiel laughed, finally opening her eyes again. "That's weird, isn't it?"

Gaara began to gaze at her. She was still smiling while looking up at the moon. The light shone down on her, making her look luminous…

He quickly tried to distract himself away from her, knowing he was going too far and wasn't just gazing at her.

And, of course, Raxiel caught on to his tenseness. Getting an idea in her head to make him more comfortable, she smiled at him…

"Hey, have you ever seen the man on the moon?"

Gaara looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "Not that she really has a mind," he thought to himself. "She's too easy-going to have a mind."

Raxiel noticed his perplexed face and laughed. Gaara's eyes widened in shock.

"Did I just make her laugh?"

Raxiel finally controlled herself. Again, she questioned him, "You've never heard that the moon sometimes looks like a man's face?" Gaara shook his head, bewildered.

"What is she doing to me?" he thought. "I've never had such a light-hearted conversation like this."

Raxiel lifted her eyes up to the moon. "Unfortunately, I've never been able to make him out, but maybe you can," she said, challenging him. Gaara sought out that this was pointless and absurd. Looking around trying to find a distraction for them to move onto something else, he couldn't seem to find anything. Raxiel watched him in the corner of her eye and smirked, knowing that he was trying to make her forget about the statement she had just made. Gently, she grabbed his hand and lifted it up towards the direction of the moon. Gaara quickly snapped his head towards her direction. She pointed at the moon with her index finger. Gaara noticed and suddenly became unconscious of everything else except the two of them. He looked up at the moon, wanting now to please her more than anything else. He slowly scrutinized the moon to see if he could find the face she had wanted him to find, but after a few minutes of searching, he gave up in defeat and shook his head. Raxiel watched as he shook his head and let go of his hand. She brought her eyes down to the roof they were sitting on and smiled shyly.

"You know what that means?" she asked.

Gaara looked over at her curiously. "What?"

The young brunette girl laughed silently with amusement. "It means we have no imagination."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Gaara paced impatiently at the entrance to the hotel. Last night had been a night he never wanted to forget. He had never had someone speak so friendly to him. He had never seen someone with such a carefree attitude and yet a hesitant nature. Gaara knew he wanted to spend the rest of the day with her again. He was still curious about her, and he wanted to get to know her better…

Ten minutes had passed. Knowing that she was about to fall asleep on him last night, Gaara insisted that she get a room so she'd be safe while sleeping.

"Not that I couldn't have watched over her," he thought. "But I still had other things to do."

Another five minutes passed. Gaara started to think that she was never going to get up. Just as he was about to give up, he looked into the window and saw Raxiel getting an apple and paying for it inside the hotel. She glanced outside and saw Gaara staring at her. Quickly she smiled at him and waved to him in a friendly manner. Finally walking outside, she quickly went over to him. Once she was near him, Gaara noticed she looked a lot healthier and cleaner than yesterday. He glanced over her light olive skin and noticed how pristine it was, to him, at least. Once again, Raxiel grinned at him.

"What's up, Gaara?" she simply asked.

"Not much. Just checking to make sure you were okay," he said, knowing that it wasn't the truth.

"Hmm… Well, do you want to walk into town and get some coffee?"

"Don't do it! Besides, you hate coffee," a voice inside Gaara told him. For once, he listened to it.

"I don't like coffee," he stated blandly. Raxiel laughed at his expression. "Well, alright. You can get water then. Come on!"

Gaara could not believe it. Someone had ordered him around. HIM. He wasn't going to stand for this.

He couldn't…

He shouldn't…

"But that smile…" he thought…

Raxiel gave him a confused look. "What's wrong? Are you feeling okay?"

Once again, Gaara turned the voice inside his head off. "Yeah, let's go."

And as they walked, Gaara couldn't help but curse at himself for taking orders from her.

Once they had walked down the road towards the village for a few minutes, they entered into a huge park. Raxiel's attention was soon caught onto the kids that were playing just a few feet away. Quickly she smiled as they started to run up and down the green meadow in front of Gaara and her.

But Gaara's mind was fixed on another thing. Knowing that the kids had snatched Raxiel's attention, he began to look around and finally saw the town ahead of them. Looking back at Raxiel to see that she was still caught in watching the kid's game, he spotted a place right beside them where there were a lot of shady trees that looked cool enough to stand under for a while. Gaara tapped her shoulder to get her attention, and when she looked at him, he pointed his index finger towards the trees, signaling to walk to them.

Once they had made their way to the only shady place in the park, Gaara began to walk away. Raxiel was about to ask him where he was going, but she was suddenly interrupted by his voice. "Stay here. I'll be back in a minute."

Raxiel couldn't help but wonder where he was going as she watched him slowly disappear from her sight. She slowly started to follow him, but before she could take another step, a little girl stopped her. "Excuse me, Miss –"

Raxiel looked down to see a little blue-eyed girl holding something in her hands. She kneeled down to be at eye-level with the girl as the girl started to cry. "What's wrong?" Raxiel asked curiously. The little girl began to reply hesitantly. "It's this bird. It has a broken wing. My friends and I found it on the ground, but we didn't know what to do. Can you help it?"

Raxiel smiled. Gently she took the bird from the girl's hands, and, holding it carefully, she began to examine it. She stood up and placed her other hand on the bird's broken wing, and suddenly, a white glow started to form around her hand. After the light had vanished, the little girl peaked at the bird to see that, to her surprise, the wing was healed. The little bird flew away in a blink of an eye, and the little girl watched, still dazzled at Raxiel's trick, as it soared away. Quickly she turned around and gave Raxiel a big smile, and Raxiel did the same. Once the little girl had thanked Raxiel, she started to run back towards her friends, but, since she wasn't paying close attention to where she was going, she soon bumped into someone. The little girl looked up and saw Iruka. Iruka bent down to be at eye-level with the frightened girl, and he began to speak to her kindly. "You okay?" The little girl nodded, and Iruka smiled at her. He gently wiped her tears off her face, and, once again, the child smiled and sprinted away.

Iruka stood up straight and looked over at Raxiel who was watching the little girl begin to play with her friends again. As Iruka made his way towards her, she finally shifted her eyes and looked at Iruka. They both smiled at each other as he stood next to her.

"Good morning. I didn't know you knew healing jutsus."

Raxiel gave him a confused look. "Jutsu? That wasn't a…whatever. I just learned how to do that from a friend a long time ago."

Iruka gazed at her awkwardly. "Oh… I see. So are you feeling better?

Raxiel smiled at him again. "Yes, very much. Thank you for helping us out last night."

"Oh, sure. I didn't mind. Where is your friend?" he said, looking around for Gaara.

Raxiel laughed at his question. "I'm not so sure myself."

Little did they know that Gaara was a few feet away watching them in rage. He finally made his way over to them, and stood closely next to Raxiel while glaring at Iruka. Raxiel finally realized he was next to her and smiled at him. Iruka did the same.

"Hello. We were just talking about you," Iruka said pleasantly.

Gaara's anger intensified with each word the sensei said. "Is that so?" he said angrily.

Quickly catching onto his anger, Raxiel tried to calm him down. "What do you have in your hands?" she asked curiously. Without delay, Gaara raised his left hand, and Raxiel smiled at what she saw in his hand. Eagerly, she took the coffee from him and drank some of it. "Thanks, Gaara!"

But he only looked at her for a second, acknowledging that he had heard her. After that second, his eyes hooked back onto brunette sensei. Iruka made out his anger, as well, and began to walk away.

"I'll see you later, Raxiel," he called out to her.

Raxiel waved at him.

And Gaara just stood there, livid as could be.

After the sensei had disappeared, Raxiel turned to face Gaara. "Didn't you get something to drink?" In response, Gaara raised up a water bottle. Raxiel sighed, and Gaara gave her a confused look. "What was that for?" he asked, his voice still sounding a little frustrated. Suddenly, Raxiel laughed as she held up her coffee. "Have you even tasted coffee before?"

Gaara looked at her awkwardly. "No, and I don't want to."

Raxiel noticed the seriousness in his voice. She grinned at him. "Come on, Gaara! Just take a sip of mine –"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Oh! Come on!"

Raxiel clutched his hand and placed her drink in his hand. Gaara's eyes widened. "I'm not going anywhere until you put your lips to that cup and drink some of that." Raxiel looked directly into his eyes, and Gaara looked straight back into her eyes, glaring at her. Raxiel leaned forward, moving closer to Gaara and making her stare even more stern.

Deference…

Gaara's glare soon vanished, and Raxiel smiled at him, knowing she had won. Sighing in defeat, Gaara finally spoke, "Fine." He took the drink and tasted it, surprised by how good it really was. He quickly gave it back to her, making sure he got it away from him so he couldn't drink anymore of it. Raxiel laughed a little, knowing he felt a bit different about the drink.

Hearing her laughter, Gaara looked at her curiously. "I wonder how she gets me to obey her," he pondered as they started walking towards the town.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

As they walked into town, Raxiel looked around in awe at what she saw. It was like a huge, crowded market place; Raxiel had never seen such a place. Gaara glanced at her, noticing her eyes wide with excitement. He couldn't help but smirk at her facial expression.

Their walking in the village was peaceful and nice until a familiar voice was heard from afar. They both stopped and looked over at the ramen shop where it had come from to see the blonde-haired boy by the name of Naruto eating… or demolishing large bowls filled with ramen. Raxiel smiled at him and started to head towards him. Gaara quickly noticed and followed, making sure he was right behind her the whole time so he couldn't lose her. When they got to Naruto's chair, he looked up at them and finally saw the two. His mouth gaped open in surprisement.

"Hey! You're that girl Iruka-sensei was eyeing!"

In a heartbeat, Raxiel blushed unconsciously. Gaara noticed and became angry.

"Still eating, I see," Raxiel said trying to calm herself. Naruto smiled at her. "I'd offer you some, but I only have enough money to pay for all of mine…"

Raxiel laughed as he looked around at his bowls he had "cleaned" out. "That's okay. It was nice seeing you again."

As they walked away, Gaara couldn't help but look at her curiously. "She's still smiling," he thought to himself, "even though he had just made her embarrassed, she still managed to keep her smile…"

Suddenly, Gaara's thoughts were interrupted as a little girl ran over to them. Raxiel realized that it was the same girl she had talked to in the park. Raxiel smiled at her as the little child made her way towards the two teens. When she reached them, Raxiel kneeled down to be at the same level with the girl. Gaara watched as the little girl smiled at her and held out a flower to her. Timidly, the girl spoke to Raxiel, "Thank you for helping me save the bird." Raxiel's smile grew bigger as she gently took the flower the little girl was offering to her. "Aww, I should thank you for giving me the flower! We sure did make a good team, didn't we?" Raxiel said kindly. The girl smiled shyly and nodded.

Gaara's eyes were still hooked onto Raxiel's smile…

The smile that was haunting his head…

And now the smile that was haunting his eyes as he was being hypnotized by it…

With more confidence in her attitude, the girl faced Gaara with a beaming smile on her face. She held out a flower to him, as well. Gaara suddenly noticed. His eyes widened.

"Here you go!" the little girl said in a cheerful yet calm voice.

Gaara looked down at the red flower she was holding out to him.

Red…

The flower brought back memories… unwanted memories of his past… memories of love… memories of hate… and memories of death. He started to glare at the girl in hate, blaming her for bringing back those painful memories to him. As the little girl waited patiently for him to take it, Raxiel looked at him and noticed his painful expression. She nudged him in the shoulder, making Gaara snap out of his mesmerization and bringing him back to reality. With his glare subsided, he looked at the girl again. As tenderly as he could, he took the flower from the girl and shifted his gaze to somewhere else, not wanting to look at the girl again from fear that it might bring back more memories. Raxiel sensed his strange behavior and examined him curiously. "Gaara?" she asked, confused about his attitude. Gaara gave her a blank stare. Raxiel studied his face, trying to find the answer as to why he was acting so different.

Gaara knew that stare…

It was her stare of concernment…

And he didn't like it…

Finally, she spoke to him again, "Aren't you going to say 'thank you'?"

Gaara looked at her, his eyes widening by the second. He glanced back at the girl who was waiting, once again with patience, for a "thank you".

"Why should I thank this girl for bringing back painful memories?" he thought as he looked down at the rose. Raxiel noticed his sudden change in his behavior. Trying to ease the situation they were in, she cleared her throat loudly and started to speak to him, this time with a more cheerful attitude. "Oh, Gaara! Yours is so much prettier than my flower! Do you want to trade? I know you like white better than red, right?"

Bewildered by her sudden change in attitude, Gaara gave her a confused look, but all Raxiel did was smiled.

"Does she know how I'm feeling?" he thought, shocked by what she had just said to him.

After calming down for a few seconds, Gaara nodded slightly at her. As they switched flowers, Gaara noticed her hand accidentally caressed his. Never feeling anything so soft before in his life, he wondered if her whole body felt that way…

Suddenly, he could feel Raxiel's hand gripping him. She nudged at him, whispering to him softly, "Say 'thank you,' Gaara."

Gaara did not like that she was telling him what to do again, but no wanting to cause a crowd, he bent down to be eye-level with the girl. The girl smiled at him, knowing exactly what he was about to say. Gaara quietly spoke to her, "Thank you." The little girl nodded and happily ran off.

Gaara stood up and glanced at Raxiel who was smiling at him and laughing quietly. Finding her laughter intriguing ,Gaara smirked at her ever so slightly. Raxiel noticed and gasped quickly at the rare expression he had just made. Gaara suddenly looked at her with concernment.

"You smiled!" she stated kindly.

Realizing now why she had gasped, Gaara turned around to look at something else. "So?"

Raxiel looked down at the ground. "I don't know…" she said softly. "I just think you should smile more, since you have a nice smile."

Gaara's eyes snapped back onto her. "Did she just say that?" he thought in total shock.

Raxiel unexpectedly looked up and shot a quick smile at him. Soon her eyes were looking around the place, and seeing that it was so noisy and crowded, her face became troubled. "Do you want to go somewhere quiet to we can talk?" she asked him. Gaara nodded in agreement, and they soon started to walk out of the town side by side.

When they had reached the outskirts of the village, Raxiel took the flower she had acquired from the girl and put it next in her hair beside her ear. Gaara watched her as she gently pushed it through some of her hair so that it would stay in place, and soon his eyes widened in shock that he would be watching such an absurd scene. Soon afterwards, Raxiel pointed to a bench, and they both walked over to it and sat down.

Gaara would never forget the way she looked up into the sky as she watched some birds fly past them. He'd never seen anyone so carefree… so worry free… It almost ticked him off, but, on the other hand, he wanted to be a part of that carefree world…

Her carefree world…

He was caught off guard, jumping a little when she started to speak to him. "So, I'm taking it that this is not your home-town."

Gaara glanced at the flower in her hair. He nodded. "I'm from the Village of Sand, Sunagakure."

Raxiel laughed. "So that's how you got the sand, huh?" Gaara only looked at her without moving or making a sound. Raxiel looked at him, noticing his sudden seriousness that hadn't been there before. She stopped smiling and looked away.

"Sorry..."

Apologies…

Gaara sensed her uneasiness. He tensed up, as well, knowing that she was not as relaxed as beforehand. Trying to get her smile back, he started to talk to her again, hesitantly. "What about you? Where are you from?"

Raxiel glanced at him. "Huh?" She thought about it for a while, wondering what she should say to him. "If I told him, would he understand? Would he understand what I've… been through? -"

"Gaara, I'd rather not say. It's too long and complicating."

"Darn it! I've hurt her!" he thought, looking down at the white flower that had been traded for the red flower.

"…You don't have any money, do you? No place to go, right?" Raxiel nodded slowly. Having an idea in his mind, Gaara looked around, and, seeing that there was no one around, he ever-so-slightly leaned towards her, not wanting anything else but her to hear what he way going to say.

"I'll pay," He said softly, yet strictly. Raxiel shot him a shocked glance. "Gaara, I can't let you-"

"I'll pay. It's no big deal for me. My…family is rich. It won't burden me at all."

"A- … Are you sure?"

Gaara nodded in response. Smiling at him shyly, Gaara knew he had won her smile back.

It made him feel…

What was the feeling?

Content?

"Thank you… very much," Raxiel said very politely.

The more she smiled, the more Gaara felt at ease with himself. He looked down at the white flower again, and with another idea in his head, he stretched his arm out towards her with the flower in his hand. "Here. I have no need for this. Please, take it."

Raxiel smiled even more and gently took the flower from his hand. Gaara watched her as she began to study the flower's off-white pedals.

"You know," she began to speak, "white represents peace."

"Yeah? so?"

"Hmm… I feel like I'm kind of at peace right now."

Gaara's face soon turned into eagerness and curiosity. "You do? You don't' feel scared or angry?"

"No, why should I?" She looked at him with curiosity, as well.

"His memories must be submitting to me. Everyone was scared when they were by me. Especially when Shukaku was inside me" he thought to himself.

Gaara shrugged his shoulders and looked out a ways towards a tree where a squirrel was climbing up and down on it. Raxiel looked up at the sky again.

"So what brings you to this village?" she asked having the need for conversation.

"I had to give this country some paper-work and sign a contract stating my home-town would be allies with this village," he said bluntly.

Raxiel nodded. "It sounds like you're important to your village."

Gaara glanced at her, his eyes widening. "Well, um… you could say that."

"And they let you go by yourself?" she asked curiously.

"Why not? I don't need an escort or a body guard," he told her.

Raxiel began to think of a good comeback. "Hmm… sometimes, even the most ready people need the most help."

Gaara grunted. He did not like where this was going. Raxiel, now excited about this new conversation, turned her body to face Gaara. "Take me, for example," she said. He looked at her confused. "I'm always ready to face precarious, noxious moments, but, the other day, I was caught off guard."

Gaara looked down. "Are you sure you're really as good as you think you are?" he asked, bored to death with this conversation. Raxiel laughed, stirring up his attention to her. "One of the best. Unfortunately, everyone has their weak moment."

"Are you saying I can't take care of myself?"

"No, I'm saying you can't take care of yourself all the time, and that's why, if you're so important, it would seem more logical to have someone else go with you."

"True… but what if you and your ally have that weak point both at the same time?" Gaara asked, hoping he had nailed her down into a corner so she could stop with this conversation.

"One of you can go for help," she stated simply.

Gaara looked away, refusing to lose to this conversation. "Well, I'm a loner."

"I guess so… but, you know, friends can also be your ally, and sometimes, it's not even when you're in a battle between two people."

"I don't have any friends. –"

"That's not true. I'm your friend."

Gaara's eyes widened with shock. "Did she really just say that?" he thought.

Still flabbergasted by what she had just said, Raxiel noticed the sudden change in his face and smiled. "So now you do have an ally, and I have one, as well."

The conversation…

He'd lost…

Gaara didn't know what to do. No one had ever called him "their friend". The only intentions he had was getting to know her and buy her lunch so they could talk a little longer.

Apparently, her intentions were stronger…

Much stronger…

Simply the thought of someone calling him "friend" made him believe he was dreaming an almost impossible dream; a dream he had wanted and had been waiting for all of his life. A smile suddenly crept from his heart to his mouth. Raxiel laughed, and with eagerness in her voice, she changed the subject. "So let's get lunch, huh? I'm hungry again."

As she stood up, her hand reaching out for his, he finally nodded in agreement and took her hand. She helped him up, and they started making their way back towards the busy village.

Dreams…

Reality…


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Once they were caught into the crowd of the busy streets of Konoha, Raxiel started to look around to see if she could find a restaurant where they could eat.

Gaara, on the other hand, wasn't…

So many things had happened, and all of it had happened in less than an hour.

Friend…

"Does that mean our relationship has changed from stranger to friend?" he thought to himself. "Does that mean she'll be treating me differently?"

"You're still the boss," a voice inside him whispered. "Never let her forget that."

Finally spotting a cheap diner, Raxiel pointed towards it and they made their way inside it.

In a stern voice, Gaara began to give Raxiel orders. "Sit down, and I'll order. What do you want?" he snapped.

Raxiel looked up at Gaara, surprised by his strict voice. "Umm… just a salad is fine."

"Alright, sit down," he said dominantly.

Raxiel noticed the roughness in his voice and stared at him in bewilderment. Without questioning him, she walked away to pick a table where they could sit. Gaara quickly ordered and came back to sit down at the table Raxiel had picked. Noticing his face was not pleasant, Raxiel decided to try to cheer him up. She smiled and him and began to think of questions to ask him. "How long are you planning on staying in this town?"

Gaara tensed up even more. He hadn't thought of having to leave her. He lost his dominant glance at her and looked down sadly. "I'll have to go back as soon as possible, once we're done with the paper-work.

Raxiel gazed at his hands, which were folded on the table. "I see," she said in a depressed tone of voice. She knew that if he left, she would have no one with which to hang out with, and she knew…

She knew there was only a one percent chance that he'd actually ask her to go with him to his town…

Gaara looked up to find out that her face was troubled. "What about you? Are you planning to stay here?"

Raxiel sighed. "Well, I haven't really thought about it," she replied reluctantly. "I don't have anywhere to go."

Suddenly, as if on cue, a waiter came over to them with their food. The man set the plates of food down nervously and waited to be dismissed. As Raxiel studied his face, she noticed how terrified he was as he was looking at Gaara. Even his pupils were dilated which seemed very peculiar to her. She smiled at him, trying to get his mind off of the redhead who was sitting on the other side of Raxiel, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't smile back to her. Gaara glared at the man, knowing exactly what that man was feeling inside himself. The man saw this and became even more scared.

"How much do I owe –"

Raxiel was interrupted by the waiter, "Oh, no, mam! No charge!"

The waiter took off running…

And all Raxiel did was look over at Gaara with a confused face. Gaara, on the other hand, was smirking, looking as though he had just accomplished something wonderful.

"Don't you pay him a tip or something?"

"You heard him; he didn't want one. Now, eat," he said bluntly.

And without any more questions from her, they both ate their salads in silence. Once they had finished, they went back out into the streets.

Without warning, a ninja appeared in front of them, startling Raxiel. Noticing her jump, Gaara got in front of her, making sure she felt more secure.

"Your presence is requested at the Hokage's Office," the ninja said to Gaara. "Apparently, there's something bad going on in the village, and we were sent to retrieve the best ninjas here in Konoha, whether they be from here or if they're just visiting."

Gaara nodded in understanding. Soon following that, the ninja disappeared.

Gaara turned to face Raxiel who was giving him a look of curiosity. "You're welcome to follow, but once we get there, you'll have to wait outside," he said. Raxiel nodded in agreement, and soon they began to walk out of the town down a long road towards the Hokage's Office.

For some reason, Gaara was happy inside that Raxiel was following him there. Although no conversation had been started, just having his "friend" there made him happy.

Of course, Raxiel broke the silence.

"So what's a Hokage?"

Silence broke over them again until Gaara had the right words he wanted to say. "He's the leader of this country, the one who makes all of the decisions."

Raxiel's eyes slightly widened, "Wow! And you're going to see him?"

"Along with the other ninjas he has called, yes," Gaara replied bluntly.

"Aren't you the least bit nervous?"

Gaara suddenly stopped in front of Raxiel, making her stop, as well. "He's a leader, not a god. Why should I be?"

"Gaara! How could you say that? He's a leader, one of the persons who keeps this country running – like a captain of a ship, almost. If you didn't have a leader, there would be no village. You should at least respect him, right? If I ever met someone like that, I'd be scared to death." Raxiel said to him; this time, her words came out with harshness.

Gaara looked down sadly. "Are you sure you'd be scared?"

Raxiel gave him a look of curiosity as to why he had just asked that. "Yes, I'm sure I would be."

"Leaders don't want people down at their feet, begging. They want to be treated like a regular person. How would you like it if people treated you more importantly than others?" he snapped.

Raxiel looked at him, surprised by what he had just said. "I wouldn't like it, but those people who have been chosen to be leaders have got to understand that they are somewhat more important than others. That's just the way things are." Suddenly, Raxiel shifted her gaze downwards to the ground. "Maybe that's the reason why we respect them so much."

Gaara calmed down a little. "What do you mean?"

"For taking on a responsibility so big, and for having to be treated so differently; maybe that's what we should respect them for, you know?"

Gaara sighed. "That's a good reason, I guess." He stepped beside her so they could walk together, and soon they were on their way again.

This time, it was Gaara's turn to start the conversation. "No one likes to be treated differently. Why couldn't people's respect for another be kept inside?"

"If we didn't show or even tell that person what we thought of them, they would think that they weren't appreciated," she said calmly as the tower that they were heading towards now was coming into their view.

"Yeah, I guess…"

Once they had reached the tower, Raxiel picked a spot to wait outside for Gaara. Gaara went inside without saying anything else to her.

"I wonder who this guy really is," she thought. "He sounds important, and yet he's just a regular person."

A half hour passed, and finally, ninjas started to come outside. Raxiel watched as each one of them came out. Anxiously she was looking for Gaara, but he didn't come. She sighed in disappointment.

Sand…?

Suddenly she felt sand falling onto her skin. She tried to brush it off, but it was effortless. Trying to figure out where the sand was coming from, she looked up at the roof that was above her. She gasped out of horror to see Gaara hanging upside-down from the roof with his feet. He was staring at her, intrigued by her carefree world again. Once she knew who he was, Raxiel sighed with relief. "How long have you been there?" she asked.

"Long enough."

"Well, how did it go?" she asked impatiently.

Gaara looked around and saw other people glancing over at them. Not liking this, he glanced back at Raxiel who was looking at him curiously. Gaara suddenly vanished into sand leaving Raxiel bewildered.

Raxiel looked around, trying to figure out where he was until suddenly she felt something crawl upwards to her waist. She looked down and gasped to see sand surrounding her from her waist down, the sand hardening by the second. She clutched the sand that was tightened onto her as it starting to lift her up towards the top of the roof. She looked up and saw Gaara on top of the roof. His arms were crossed, and he was glaring at her. She looked at him, scared as the sand spiraled around her touching her bare skin. She struggled to get free, but it was futile. Gaara walked over to her slowly.

"Are you… scared?"

Raxiel looked up at him again and stopped struggling. "Y-You're… -"

Gaara nodded as if he was reading her mind.

"Then no. No, I'm not scared. You just surprised me."

Gaara could see her body starting to relax. His eyes widened as shock crept over him from the sudden change of her body language. He gently let her down and summoned the sand back into his gourd.

Still a little nervous, Raxiel looked at him curiously. Gaara soon shifted his eyes towards her, and they both made eyes contact.

"Why did you do that?" she asked.

Gaara skipped the question. "The things I am to tell you, no one else should know about, okay?" Raxiel nodded, letting him know he could continue. "There's a gang of criminals around here that have been going around and killing other ninjas. There's no decision on what they want, but we've been sent to try to capture them. It's an S-rank mission - meaning it's the hardest. I don't know how long it will take, but I'll most likely be gone for a while."

Raxiel looked down, saddened by what he had just said.

"Listen to me, Raxiel, I don't want you wandering around in town. Stay close to your hotel room. When I get back, I'll come see you," Gaara said very seriously.

Raxiel looked up at him. "Yeah, but, Gaara, I –"

"No, you're staying in that hotel. Promise me, okay?

Raxiel looked away towards a forest that was on the opposite side of Gaara. Gaara soon caught on to her evasiveness. He took a step closer to her and glared at her. "Raxiel…"

"Okay, fine! I promise…"

Gaara sighed at her, making Raxiel glance at him. He slowly started walking towards the edge of the roof. "I'm your friend, right? So this is my way of making sure you don't get hurt."

"He cares for me," she thought as he jumped off the roof and onto the ground. She slowly edged herself closer to the edge of the roof when she suddenly felt sand wrap around her again. It lifted her up off the roof and placed her gently on the ground. Raxiel looked at Gaara again.

The sand moved across her face, almost caressing it…

"Gaara… could you make it let go?"

Gaara stared at her, intrigued by her face and how hesitant it was. "Her skin is softer than the finest sand…" he thought.

Gaara finally motioned his hand, and the sand let go of Raxiel and traveled back into the gourd. They both stared at each other not for any reason in the world.

It was just wanted by them…

Just needed…

Gaara finally broke the stare and looked at the road they had come from.

"Let's get going."

As they reached the road, Raxiel looked down at her moving feet. "Could he feel my skin? Is that why he moved it to my face?" she wondered. "I almost could have promised I saw him smiling when it touched me."

Gaara broke the silence. "You could always come with me to Suna," he said, still looking straight ahead of him at the road. "I could pay for you to have an apartment, and you wouldn't be lonely with me being in the same town."

Raxiel looked up at the back of his head. "He's always wanted me to walk behind him – for me to follow him. Is he afraid?"

"Raxiel?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by Gaara's voice. Raxiel snapped out of her mesmerization and realized that he was now looking back at her with curiosity.

"Oh, sorry," she said a little too apologetically.

"Something's wrong," he stated to her. He stopped in front of her forcing her to stop, as well. She looked at him with confusion as he turned to face her, staring at her curiously. A long silence was kept between them.

"…Well? Why are you not yourself?"

Raxiel looked down. "It's nothing. I just had something on my mind."

Gaara took a step closer to her. Raxiel quickly snapped her eyes back onto him noticing their distance had closed in a little. Now realizing how close they really were, Raxiel's eyes widened, showing uneasiness.

Gaara, on the other hand, was not uneasy at all. He was too busy examining her. Noticing her uneasiness hadn't stopped him from looking. He wished he could have made himself stop, but with her being so close, it was almost a good excuse to actually look at her in more detail.

To actually get a glance at her small scar next to her eye…

To catch a glimpse of actually how big her mahogany eyes were…

To be able to hear how fast she was breathing…

Slowly, he raised his eyes to catch her eyes with his. She had caught him glaring at her. She had caught everything, from the first glance to the last eye'ås glance at her lips.

Caught like a hawk with its prey…

Caught like a bear in a trap…

And her reaction…

Fear… Anxiety…

And his reaction…

"I've hurt her again," he thought.

Raxiel broke the awkward silence, although still shaken by the way he had looked at her. "When are you leaving for the mission?"

"Tomorrow morning…" He turned around and continued walking. After a while, he could hear her footsteps behind him.

"So, what's Suna like?" she asked genially, trying to shake off the anxiety between them.

"Windy," he said nonchalantly.

Raxiel looked down, "Oh, windy…"

And then, something caught Gaara's attention…

Laughter…

Loud, happy laughter from behind him…

He turned to face her, and noticed she was laughing at him: HIM, Gaara of the Desert.

He quickly stopped and turned around, glaring at her, but trying to make her stop had only caused her to laugh even harder.

"What?" he said bluntly.

Raxiel managed to control her laughter after a few seconds. "You're not a very descriptive person, you know?" she said kindly.

"Why should I be?"

"I don't know, but you really don't know how to hold a conversation," she said, starting to laugh again. This time, Gaara almost felt a smile come across his face. He quickly turned around and continued to walk down the road. Raxiel quickly caught up, making her steps quicker which brought her to Gaara's side. Gaara quickly looked at her, noticing her smile was back.

"Did I get her smile back?" he thought. Silence fell over them except for the crunch of their footsteps. "I've got to make sure she won't get hurt," he thought.

"You'll have dinner in your room. I don't want you coming out tomorrow, unless it's an emergency," he stated to her.

Raxiel game him an uneasy look. She sighed, depressed about the situation she was going to be in. "That's no fun…" she murmured.

Gaara sensed her agitation. He wasn't trying to be patronizing, but it was just his way of seeing things done. He hesitantly began to speak to her again, "Umm… Do you need anything in town?"

"Hm?" Raxiel mumbled.

"Well, since you're going to be in your room for a while, I just thought you might need some things."

"Oh, yeah; I see," she said still depressed.

Agitation…

Or protection…?


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Raxiel couldn't believe how long it took them to buy the necessary items she would need for when she would be abandoned in her little hotel room the days that Gaara would be away. No matter how hard she tried to get out of each store as quickly as possible, it was somehow inevitable that they would always stay in each store for at least an hour. Gaara could sense her frustration, and he quickly caught on that shopping was not at the top of her list of fun things to do. He could tell her frustration grew even more when he insisted on paying for everything. He didn't think -… he knew she wouldn't be doing anymore shopping for a while.

Finally making their way out of the busy "metropolis," they started to walk back towards the hotel. Raxiel suddenly heard her stomach growl, and noticed her arms were shaking due to the fact that she had been holding a huge bag of groceries for a long time. Seeing that she was frustrated, Gaara had been kind enough to take most of the bags, and she knew she owed him for that.

Reaching her free hand into the heavy bag she was carrying, she pulled out an apple and tossed it to Gaara, not realizing in time that his hands were full. Raxiel gasped as she soon noticed the mistake she had made. She closed her eyes and flinched, but suddenly she heard something coming from his direction…

Sand…

She opened her eyes looking at Gaara to see that a hand formed by sand was right next to Gaara's face, the apple gripped inside of it. Raxiel's eyes widened in shock, noticing how the sand had caught it as if it was second nature to it.

"Gaara, I'm so sorry! I wasn't thinking! –"

"It's alright. There's no need," he said kindly to her.

Raxiel noticed his unusual friendliness and looked down, embarrassed by what she had just done. "It was meant for you to eat…" she said quietly.

Gaara looked over at her, realizing she was embarrassed. "Thank you," he said calmly while looking at her with sincerity. Raxiel slowly raised her eyes up to look at him, and noticed his the look on his face…

One she had never seen before on him…

Peaceful…

Almost, hypnotizing…

Slowly, her smile came back as they started to walk down the road again. After walking a few more minutes, Gaara heard a noise coming from Raxiel. He glanced over at her to see that she was, once again, digging into her bag she was holding trying to find another apple. He quickly ordered his sand to put the apple in one of the bags where the apple would be at the top, and dismissed it afterwards.

They soon came across a fork in the road. One of those roads was the one they had come from that morning to get to the village, while they had not traveled the other one yet.

"Do you want to take the other road?" Gaara asked nonchalantly.

Raxiel stopped what she was doing and looked up at him curiously. "Where does it go?"

"Same place, different scene," he said bluntly.

Raxiel gave him a genial smile. "Sure; that's fine."

They continued to walk, this time, choosing the path to their right instead. Raxiel brought her focus back on the apple she was still trying to grasp from the bottom of the bag. Her stomach was starting to make much louder noises. Gaara looked over at her, hearing the unusual sound.

The wind was eerily blowing. Leaves started to fall from the trees that surrounded the two wandering beings. Their pace was becoming slower as they were taking in the incredible old forest that the road had taken them.

Raxiel finally grabbed something in the bag…

"Ah-hah!" she cried out triumphantly. Gaara looked over at her to see her walking beside him, her tongue sticking out awkwardly from concentration, and her face only a few inches away from entering the bag. As she reeled back her arm to see what her hand had hooked onto, she smiled a golden smile. But her smile soon turned into disappointment as she lifted her hand up to see only an orange. She sighed, disappointed with herself.

"Crud…" she mumbled.

Gaara couldn't help but smirk at the expression on her face. She almost looked defeated.

And something else caught Gaara's attention…

Sweat was dripping off her face…

"Funny…" he thought. "I didn't notice how tired she was from walking."

As Raxiel was in deep thought while looking at the orange, Gaara abruptly stopped. Raxiel soon noticed and stopped along side him. She looked at him with bewilderment. "What's wrong?"

"We're resting."

"Resting?"

Gaara looked at her. "Yes, we're resting. Come on, over there by the spring."

They made their way towards the spring, Gaara leading the way. Trees covered two sides of the spring; while the other half of the spring was some what hindered by boulders that had fallen off the mountain that was behind the forest, making the spring an almost private area.

Raxiel sat down on one of the boulders right next to the spring, her legs crossed. Gaara found a boulder next to it and sat down on it. He glanced over at Raxiel to see her peeling the orange.

Raxiel looked up at him and then looked down at the apple she had "tossed" to him that was still in the bag. "Why don't you eat you apple I gave you?" she asked curiously.

Gaara made a quick glance down to the apple. "I'm not hungry right now," he said politely, managing to force a smirk at her, even though he wasn't feeling all that happy. Raxiel noticed his rare smirk and quickly smiled back at him. It wasn't very long though until her eyes caught onto something else.

As she spun around to look at the water on the other side of her, Gaara couldn't help but stare at her big, dark brown eyes that were shining with excitement. They were filled with so much life… so much love-

"Wait… Did I just think that?" he thought to himself. He shook his head, trying to get the thoughts out of his mind.

"Do you like water, Gaara?" Raxiel asked him curiously. Gaara noticed that she had moved off the boulder to sit down on the dirt next to the spring. Her finger was caressing the water as she looked down at it calmly. Her orange was sitting on the boulder. Gaara's eyes widened slightly from not catching her moving from the boulder to the water.

"Well," he said bluntly, "I'm not fond of it. Why?"

Raxiel shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I thought you might like it. It kind of reminds me of you."

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

"Well, water can be calm and silent, only making sound when it needs to. It's different from everything else. It's much more mysterious."

Gaara eyed the girl in total shock.

Raxiel began to giggle, thinking about what she had just said. "But water can also be rough, strong, and angry. It can threaten people's lives in a storm, or it can create a huge fear in people's lives by trying to drown them."

She turned her head to put her eyes on him. They both made eyes contact with each other. "That's just the way I feel about you. You're different… from anyone else I've ever met. But it's strange. I also feel as though you are scared of something, like a tiny droplet that's not ready to fall from the cloud to the ground… I'm sorry. I rambled off."

She had read his mind…

She had caught him so off guard, all he could do was nod, acknowledging he forgave her for what she had called "foolish talking."

As Raxiel stood up, ready to go, Gaara noticed the red rose that had been in her hair all day.

Red… the color of blood… and yet it also resembles so much more…

What else could it resemble?

Gaara walked over to the boulder she was first sitting on and picked up her orange. Facing her, he tossed it to her. Raxiel tried to catch it, but it went further away towards the spring. Raxiel quickly lost her balance and fell into the water. Gaara's eyes widened. He walked over to the edge and saw her there, soaked all over. Her shirt was clenched to her body, revealing every curve of her beautiful figure. Gaara tried not to look any farther down other than her face, but Raxiel noticed his uneasiness and blushed.

"If I'm water," he thought, "then I'm all over her… I'm in her…"

Red…

A droplet of blood slid down Raxiel's face from her forehead where she had cut her face slightly by a rock in the spring.

It resembles hurt…

Pain…

"Are you okay?" he asked gently. Raxiel nodded, looking as though the fall had been nothing. Gaara held his hand out to help her, and she gladly accepted his offer. As he helped her out, the orange in her other hand, she smiled at him, giving him a "thank you" look.

"Let's go," he said as he started to walk away. Raxiel started to follow when she suddenly stopped and ran back over to the spring. Gaara was picking up all of the bags when he noticed her gazing out into the spring. He walked back over to her and noticed was she was looking at.

In the spring, two roses floated in the water, one red, and the other white. He stared at them with confusion.

As if Raxiel could read his mind, she began to speak, "This, from now on, will be our spring. I will always cherish this place and think of you and I here and how we've become such good friends these past two days. Besides, I think the spring needed something to remember us by, as well," she said still looking out over the spring.

"Our spring…"

Gaara thought those words as they turned around to walk the path towards the hotel.


	10. Chapter 9

Author's Note:

I just wanted to say a quick sorry about the last chapter. I was rushing on it a little, so it might not sound as good as the others (I might go back and edit a couple of things on it… someday).

Also, I would like to say that I am not ungrateful for the reviews. They have given me more confidence in my writing (I've never posted a story before). I thank you for the reviews, whether they're encouraging, or need-improvement reviews. The more you review, the quicker I will probably post another chapter or edit a chapter (depending on my schedule).

Anyways, I'll let you read the next chapter now.

Chapter 9:

"When do you think you'll be back?" Raxiel asked curiously as they stood by the entrance of the hotel.

Gaara shrugged his shoulders. "Depends on if we catch the enemies, or if they retreat."

"So there's really no way of telling, is there?" Raxiel said sadly.

Gaara noticed her melancholy. He took a step towards her. "I'll be sure to come get you, as soon as the mission is done."

Raxiel smiled at him. "Do you mean it? Thanks, Gaara!"

Gaara's eyes widened a little. Someone was actually glad that he would visit them. Someone wasn't afraid of him…

"She is different…" he thought to himself as he looked down, examining the cracks in the concrete that was underneath them. Raxiel's face turned into concernment when she saw tenseness in his face. "Are you okay?"

Gaara quickly looked up at her. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Raxiel nodded. "You'd better get some rest for tomorrow."

Gaara glanced down at her shirt, seeing that she was still drenched and that the shirt still clung to her skin. "Right; you should get some sleep yourself."

"Heh, well, I might just do that once I get a shower," Raxiel said, slightly laughing at how he was looking at her wet-self. "But aren't you going to get a room yourself?"

Gaara shook his head. "I've still got some things to do in preparation for the mission," he said while taking out the apple she had given him earlier. He tossed it in the air a few times. Raxiel smiled at him and quickly picked up the bags they had set down on the ground. Gaara started to walk away when he calmly called out to her.

"Hurry up and get in your room," he ordered.

Raxiel sighed as she saw him walk away. She was a little annoyed with taking

orders from him, but non-the-less, she did so due to the fact that she needed to take a shower.

Making her way up the stairs of the hotel and entering into her room, she set her bags down on a table. She walked over to the only window in her room, sighing as she pulled the curtains aside. She looked out towards the sky to see the moon was out and the stars were shining brightly. Gazing out at the stars had caused a smile to creep out of her. She glanced downwards to see the people walking on the road that Gaara and her had come from.

"Maybe being on the second-floor isn't so bad after-all," she said to herself as she walked over to the bags to put the food that needed to be in the refrigerator away.

Once she was done clearing out all of the bags and putting her new attained items away, she grabbed some of her new clothes and made her way towards the shower.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

The moon that was once beautiful was soon covered up by grey clouds, making the moon appear downright ugly. What seemed to be like a peaceful night turned into a downright terrible night for Gaara as he was making his way to the city before it closed for the night. Just as he was out of the sheltered forest, all hell broke loose as the rain clouds started to pour out rain like there was no tomorrow. Dirt holes quickly became a home to puddles in just a few seconds. Nothing outside that wasn't sheltered was easily drenched in less than a minute.

Gaara was one of them…

He grunted in frustration. He didn't like to get wet, especially since he still had a mile to go before the town could even be seen. The apple that he had eaten while he was in the forest did give him enough energy to walk a little quicker, but there was no use of walking any faster since he was already soaked from head to toe.

What gave him more frustration was the fact that he didn't even want to go on the mission. To him, this mission was basically a camping trip and maybe a little game of "war".

He grunted again. This was not going to be a good week at all…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

As the hot water poured over her body, Raxiel couldn't believe how good it felt to get wet. The hot steam made the air relaxing, taking all of her cares and concerns away. As she turned the water off and reached to grab her towel, she noticed grains of sand that were on her arm that she had failed to scrub off. She started to wipe her arm, hoping to remove the sand, but the sand remained on her, not moving a single millimeter.

"Why is it not coming off?" she said to herself in confusion. Resolved about getting the particles of sand off of her, she picked at them for as long as five minutes only to irritate her skin. She sighed with defeat and started to get dressed.

She had a feeling that this week was going to be awful…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Once the clouds had all dispersed, the sun came out as brightly as it could, making the air humid and hot. Mosquitoes made themselves welcome to the townspeople who were outside. Gaara happened to be one of them.

As he made his way through the town, he could see all the damage that had been caused by the storm. Signs were falling off of the shops, windows were broken, and the rain had caused the ground to smell sickening.

To say the least… the village looked like a wreck…

"What a waste," Gaara thought, as he looked at the stores to see most of the products were wet due to so many broken windows that the wind has smashed by its speed and force. He sighed, "Sunagakure will never see this much rain in its lifetime," he thought to himself.

As he made his way towards the entrance gates to Konoha, he heard a voice yelling his name. Abruptly, he stopped; his eyes widened. He looked behind him to see Raxiel, scurrying to catch up to him.

"What is she doing outside!" he thought. "I thought I told her to stay inside…"

As Raxiel slowed her pace down now walking nonchalantly, Gaara glared at her in a stubborn manner. Once Raxiel had stopped next to him, her smile she once had vanished…

"What's that face for?"

"I told you to stay inside," he snapped.

Raxiel rolled her eyes. "Oh, please! I just came to see you off. After that, I'll obey, good enough?"

"Five minutes, Raxiel. You have five minutes."

Raxiel laughed at Gaara's face, and his glare intensified. "You think it's funny that someone could kill you?"

"Do you really think a villain would come into a hotel just to kill some innocent people?"

"Yes, I do. There are callous people out there."

"…Okay, so you do have a point. But I can defend myself," she said stubbornly.

"It doesn't matter," Gaara said, refusing to give up. He started walking away. "Besides…"

Raxiel ran to catch up to him. She started to walk beside him. "Besides what?'' she restated to him.

He glanced at her. "You might be caught off guard. Weren't you the one who said, 'Sometimes, the most ready people need the most help'?"

Raxiel's eyes widened. "So, he was listening," she thought. She sighed with defeat, "Okay, fine. I'll stay inside; I promise."

Gaara smirked, knowing he had won. As they reached the gates, he came to a halt while turning to her. Raxiel stopped and looked over at him.

"This is where you go back," he said bluntly. He could hear the other ninjas who had been requested to come on the mission call to him from a little ways away, waiting for him so they could begin.

Raxiel sighed. "Hey, listen, Gaara. Be careful, okay? I don't want my friend getting injured, so you'd better stay alert."

Gaara's eyes widened…

The ninjas called to him again…

Knowing he had to leave, he started to walk away. "Um…sure. You be careful, too…"

Raxiel smiled. "Sure thing."

And so they left…

Left each other…

Gaara watched her as she walked down the road and studied her silhouette. He'd never seen such a body that was so perfect in every way.

"Why am I thinking like this?" he thought as he turned to face the other ninjas who were about to leave without him.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

As Raxiel entered her room, she quickly looked out the door one more time and sighed.

"What can you do in a hotel room for who-knows how long?" she thought to herself as the door to her room closed. She made her way over to her bed to sit and think. As she was doing so, something else slowly caught her attention…

Her window was open…

Her window that she had locked that morning was open…

Her eyes widened; she stood up and started to head for the bathroom. The door to it was wide open.

"Good," she thought, "just the way I left it."

Once she had peeked in the bathroom, she headed towards the closet she had put her clothes in. When she opened the door, to her relief, she found no one.

"Maybe the maids did it…" she thought as she lay on her bed, sighing with relief.

Soon she drifted into a peaceful sleep…


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

DING!

"You know, that sound is really annoying," Raxiel thought as she opened the microwave door to reveal her dinner. Having slept through the whole day due to being bored, Raxiel knew she didn't really need to eat…

But she was so bored; she just had to do something.

Thoughts began to fill her head as she sat down at the little table in her hotel room to eat. "I wonder if Gaara knew how boring it would be for me to sit inside a hotel with nothing to do…"

Staring at the blank white wall, Raxiel didn't even notice the shadows that were forming against the opposite wall she was gazing at…

Suddenly, the glass window shattered. Raxiel gasped and jumped out of her chair, quickly darting behind a wall that hid her from the window.

Raxiel could hear loud footsteps from the window…

"Come on out, Miss! We're not going to hurt you," a man called out.

"Yeah," another coaxed at Raxiel, "we just need some money!"

Raxiel quickly grasped one of her blades that was just waiting to be used. She did not like where this was going…

She heard footsteps again; this time, they were closer…

"Come on, sweetie! All we want is a little cash. Where is it?"

"There's none here!" she snapped at them as she stepped out of her hiding spot, both of her blades were summoned to her hands. "So, there are three of them. This might get rough," Raxiel thought.

The men smirked now knowing where she was. "No cash, eh?"

Raxiel nodded. "A friend of mine is helping me financially," she said to them curtly.

"Well then, I guess a little blackmailing wouldn't hurt," a man now stepping forward towards her said. Quickly Raxiel readied herself for battle. Although she did put up a good fight, taking a few blows and whacks at them, in the end, the three men surrounded her, making it futile for her to try to escape. Raxiel glared at the man in front of her. In her last effort, she raised her blade up, preparing to make a blow at him, but suddenly she felt a rapid force hit the back of her head.

Soon her world blackened…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Coldness…

Darkness…

Shivers…

And something… moist…?

Raxiel opened her eyes quickly from feeling something slimy against her back. She touched it with her hands, trying to make out what it was.

Slime…

Gravel…

A cave…?

"So, you woke up! About time, Miss! You've been asleep for most of the night," said a harsh voice.

"That's a strangely familiar voice," Raxiel thought to herself.

She didn't have time to think whose voice it was, for someone had clutched her chin and had forced it up to eyelevel. Raxiel tried to slap the hand, but she soon found out why she couldn't move.

Chains were tying her up against the cave…

When she finally looked at the man's face, at once, she recalled who it was.

"What do you want, thief?"

The man smirked at her. "We want cash, what else?"

"I've already told you: there's none."

The man pushed her hard against the cave's wall. "Well then, I guess your friend had better come back with some."

Raxiel let out an unwanted yelp. She couldn't believe these people had captured her. "I guess I've lost some of my skills," she thought to herself.

But soon her thoughts were interrupted by another man's voice. This voice, though, she'd never heard.

"Now, is that any way to treat our guest?"

Footsteps were heard from the entrance of the cave. Raxiel quickly glanced over the man who was gripping her throat to see an unusual looking man of some sort.

The man who was holding Raxiel finally let go and walked out, leaving Raxiel and the enigma inside.

Raxiel noticed the enigma was smiling pleasantly at her.

But something about that face disturbed her…

Evilness…

Slowly the man started to make his way towards her. "You look weak…"

"Huh?" Raxiel's eyes widened slightly, bewildered at what the man had just said.

As the man stepped in front of her, Raxiel noticed his face was almost white. His long brown hair and feminine-type face made her almost cringe at the sight.

The man gently placed his hand on her sweaty forehead. "You're cold," he said in an almost alluring voice. The man took his hand off of her and made his way towards the campfire that stood in the middle of the cave. He picked up a bowl that had soup inside and walked back over to her. He lifted the bowl up to her face. "Drink this; it'll make your stronger."

"Does this dunce think I'm stupid or something?" Raxiel thought to herself. As the man was tilting the bowl, allowing Raxiel to put her lips around the edge of the bowl. Instead, Raxiel moved her head to the side and hit the bowl, making the boiling hot soup pour onto the man's hand. The man dropped the bowl and flinched. He rubbed his hand, hoping to relieve some of the stinging. He looked up from his hands at her in a death glare.

"You may think I'm a down-right, plain-old idiot, but I'm not. Did it not occur to you that my mind would have thought that that one particular bowl could be poisoned?" she said as bluntly as she could.

The man scowled at her. "I assure you, it wasn't, but since you're not hungry, I suppose I won't give you any. You're welcome to stay in this cave and rot."

"What do you really want? Nobody would go through so much trouble to abduct someone just to get money. You can't just steal it from a store?"

The man laughed. "You're quite right, but that would give away that we're close to the village. Besides, you seem like an interesting specimen to work with for my research. Those weapons you hold, I've never seen anything quite like them."

"Well, you can't have them," Raxiel snapped.

"Oh, I can assure you I will have them," he smiled at her.

"Go ahead and try, but they will not go with you," Raxiel smirked, accepting what seemed to be a challenge from the man.

Apparently, the man wasn't interested with the challenge at the moment. "No, I don't need them just yet, but I will inform you, when the time comes," he said walking away towards the exit of the cave.

"How long am I supposed to be chained here?" Raxiel said angrily.

The man stopped for a minute. "As long as it takes for us to complete our goal here." The man walked out, disappearing into the darkness of the night.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 12:

The fire crackled…

Raxiel sighed. Her arms were getting sore, and the gravel beneath her back was starting to chisel away at her. She laid her head on the wall, trying to forget the tension in her arms.

"I might not have any arms if I don't get myself out of here quick," she thought.

After having looked for something to help her escape, she realized it was futile, seeing that every sharp or long or – well, any type of object was too far away.

Except for the bowl…

Raxiel laughed to herself. "Yes, a bowl is going to save me…"

As she started to reach for the object, suddenly she heard the yells of men who sounded like they were being tortured.

Her eyes widened…

She swallowed harshly…

Adrenaline rushed through her body, making her restless to reach the bowl.

More screams were heard, but this time, they sounded closer.

"Oh, come on! Stupid bowl!" she yelled out loud. She was getting quite frustrated. Her fingers could slightly touch the bowl, but when she tried to grasp it, the bowl would slide away, making this a game Raxiel wished would be over.

Footsteps…

"Dang it! Their coming!" she thought as she looked up desperately to see a shadow forming.

Her hand snatched the bowl coincidentally.

As she stood up straight, she soon saw a black figure inside the cave with her.

Her eyes widened…

The figure slowly started to approach her, stepping over the fire, which afterwards, was no longer burning.

As the silhouette came closer, Raxiel could pick out a few details on his face. From what it looked like to her, it appeared to be a man with a tall yet masculine structure. His eyes appeared red, and his face had no expression.

"From the looks of it, I am more than dead…" she thought in despair.

She quickly snapped herself out of her mesmerization. As he took another step, she threw the bowl at him hard, trying to stop him, but all the man did was shift his position as the bowl passed him. Raxiel's eyes widened even more.

He finally stopped where he was only a few inches away from her. Raxiel could almost sense curiosity in his face. The seconds that seemed like hours were making her lose her composure as the man stared at her closely in the darkness.

"Name yourself, kunoichi," the man said, startling Raxiel.

"I'm no kunoichi! Where'd you get a dumb idea like that?" she snapped defensively.

The man sensed her nervousness. "Your aim is that of a powerful ninja. I apologize –"

"No, you don't," Raxiel snapped.

A perfectly arched eyebrow rose from the man's face. "You catch on quickly, but you still haven't answered my question," he said unemotionally.

"Why do you care about who I am if you're just going to kill me?" Raxiel asked. She was getting more livid by the minute from staring at the man.

She shouldn't have said that…

In the blink of an eye, the man had pushed Raxiel back into the wall harshly and was holding her throat. He lifted her up a few inches, and Raxiel let out an unusual moan.

"Since when have I gotten so weak?" she thought to herself, feeling blood trickle down her back.

Silence fell over them as they both stared into each other's eyes.

"It's Raxiel…" she said calmly. The man smirked slightly.

Pride…

Raxiel had finally had enough. She spat at the man, making the man's smirk quickly fade into an unemotional face again. The saliva now running down his cheek soon turned red. Raxiel's eyes widened. "Who the hell are you?" she whispered to him angrily.

"Hmm… You don't know?"

"Should I?"

The man eased his grip on her, slowly lowering her to the ground. As he did, Raxiel's cuts in her back began to slice open even more. She bit her lip, not to make any more noise to show weakness.

The man saw blood trickle down her face from her lip, and he knew she was in pain.

He wiped the red saliva from his face…

He took out a knife…

Raxiel felt her arms begin to relax as she… lowered them to her sides?

"Wait, you're releasing me?" she asked in shock as he walked away towards the dim fire, putting the knife where he'd gotten it.

"No, but tomorrow, you're more than obliged to get lost. There is just one thing I will ask of you."

"… Go ahead."

The man glared at her. "You mention to no one that you saw me. If you do, I will kill you."

Raxiel's eyes widened. "What's with this guy?" she asked herself, the fire beginning to rise again.

"Okay, I promise, but wouldn't it be a lot more convenient to you if you just killed me?"

The man looked away towards the entrance of the cave. "You remind me of someone…"

Kunoichi…

"Who was she?" she asked openly.

The man heard her footsteps and looked back over to Raxiel. She was moving towards the huge boulder that was by the fire. "It's none of your business," he snapped.

Raxiel sat down nonchalantly. "Oh, sorry," she said carelessly.

The man shifted his gaze back towards the entrance. "Orochimaru is still out there. He'll be coming back to the village soon."

Raxiel took her focus off the fire and onto the man again. "Orochimaru? Who's that?"

"The one who kidnapped you; the leader of the Sound Village."

Raxiel grunted. "Some leader he is."

"Watch your tongue. You don't even know who he is," he said coldly.

"Okay, fine," she replied back to him just as coldly as he had. A long silence fell between the two. The enigma soon ended up sitting down by the fire opposite to where Raxiel was sitting. The man was closely examining her as she was looking behind her to see what her back looked like. She sighed heavily and looked back at the man who quickly shifted his eyes down to the fire.

"You wouldn't happen to have anything like a bandage lying around in your back pocket, would you?" she asked sadly.

"I might have set you free, but don't think I'm going to help you. You're on your own," he said unemotionally.

Raxiel snapped back at him, "Well then, you saving me was all done in vain!"

The man shot her a cold stare.

"It's a yes or no question and action, or are you just a dunce like that Orochimaru guy?" Raxiel angrily said, staring at him as much as he was at her. The staring continued for a few minutes until Raxiel gave up. She looked down and sighed while whispering the word "dunce" very quietly.

The enigma stared at her again with curiosity. Finally, he stood up and slowly approached her. Raxiel saw a shadow hovering over her and quickly looked up seeing the enigma hovering above her. She gave him a confused glance.

Just as she about to say something, the man gave her orders, "Shut up, and be still."

As he sat down behind her, Raxiel couldn't help but tense up, making the slices in her back being to bleed even more.

"You're going to have to loosen up if you want them healed," the man said quietly.

"Well, sorry, but this isn't really a relaxing place to be at when you've got a killer behind you. Can't you just give me a bandage and I'll wrap my own wounds?"

"No, and I told you to shut up. Just relax; this will only take a minute," he said coldly.

Raxiel tried to forget the murderer behind her; she tried to pretend it was someone she knew.

But when that hand touched her…

That rough, calloused hand…

Raxiel closed her eyes and bit her tongue so she wouldn't lash out at him. As his hand underneath her shirt moved up and down her bloody back, Raxiel could make out that he was really only caressing it.

Slowly she counted the seconds…

Nine… Ten…

She felt her back begin to feel cold due to the blood evaporating from her back.

Seventeen… Eighteen…

What used to be scrapes, cuts, and gashes, turned into tiny bruises. His hand touched every one of the wounds.

Thirty-three… Thirty-four…

His breath touched her neck… then her ear…

One, two, skip a few… um… Sixty!

"That's enough!" Raxiel said, trying to sound calm, but her voice came through shaky. The man stopped his caressing. He slowly took his hand out from beneath and moved away towards where he was first sitting. Slowly he leaned up against the wall of the cave.

"Full moon…"

"Huh?" Raxiel glanced at where he was looking to see a full moon almost covered up by stormy clouds.

Stormy clouds…

Rain…!

Raxiel finally realized that it was raining outside.

A smile covered her face…

As Raxiel made her way towards the exit, the man's eyes quickly glanced at her. "You'll leave tomorrow," he stated.

"I know. I'm just going to rinse off in the rain." Raxiel quickly glanced at the man to see curiosity in his eyes. "Who is he?" she thought as she walked out into the rain. Raxiel sensed his eyes on her. The more soaked she became, the more blood and grunge fell off her. Raxiel closed her eyes to take in the wonderful feeling.

But somehow, that feeling was soon lost…

Someone was watching her…

"He's still watching me!" she thought to herself. She quickly glanced over at him. He had never moved; he just stood there, examining her with a blank face.

She finally couldn't stand it anymore and turned her whole body so she was facing his direction. "Is something wrong?" she asked impatiently.

"…Amaya."

"What?"

"Night rain."

"Well, yeah."

"All's well tonight."

"Oohh…"

Raxiel turned around and made an awkward face that no one could see. "Whoever he is, he certainly doesn't have a lot on his mind," she thought, oblivious to what he had really meant.

She looked back at him again. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Just making sure you don't leave," he murmured.

"I promised you I wouldn't leave, and I keep my promises. Besides, why would I leave? I don't even know where I'm at, and it's pitch black," Raxiel said innocently.

The man smirked slightly. "Some kunoichi have the ability to see perfectly when it's dark outside."

Raxiel knew he had said that to throw her off edge.

"Alright," she thought, "I'll play his little game. Maybe I can get some answers out of him."

Raxiel picked up her swords that were leaning against the outside of the cave. As sarcastically as she could, she began to speak to the man, "My dear sir, it seems that you are quite right. With these weapons of mine, I have the ability to see into the future and to see even in the darkest of places."

The man's smirk turned into slight allurement. "Really?"

Raxiel smirked. "Yes, it is quite true. I can even tell what kind of a person you are and who you are."

"Well then, tell me, and I'll say if you are correct or not."

Raxiel sensed she was getting into a dangerous position. She quickly glanced into his eyes to see if she could make something of him. "Well, anyone can tell by your evil grin that you're naturally a renegade. A strong, powerful renegade, am I not correct by this?"

The man took a few steps towards her. "Go on."

Raxiel quickly examined his body structure. She smirked, having an idea in her head. "Do you have a sibling?"

The man stopped walking. "That's a question."

"It's either you have a sibling, or you have a pet that's very close to you," she said, knowing her luck was starting to run out.

"A brother, perhaps. Where'd you get that from?"

"You've got a brotherly likeness about you; plus, I can see you've got a few scars on you that look like you used to train together."

"How do you know they're not battle wounds?" the man asked, knowing she had just eased herself into a trap.

Once again, Raxiel put on her sarcastic voice. "Oh, you're too proficient to even get a scratch by another warrior."

The man continued towards Raxiel. "I suppose you could tell me my name then."

"No, my powers are dead now. I'll have to recharge," Raxiel said quickly. Soon the man was out in the rain next to Raxiel, "That's too bad, since you really just lied to me."

"I wouldn't call it lying. Sarcasm is more like it," Raxiel stated nonchalantly.

"Hmm… I see…"

"I'm not going to get any answers unless I keep playing this game," she thought. Continuing the game, Raxiel took a step closer to the man. "And what's a powerful person like you doing here in this disheveled place?"

Suddenly, Raxiel's eyes widened as she felt him grab her arm tightly. "I've come to collect something," he replied.

Raxiel soon regained her composure. "And it's in the mountains?" She was done with his game. This time, it was time to be serious. She'd gone too far, and she knew it.

But the man wasn't finished with his game. Knowing Raxiel was quitting the game gave him a stronger urge to play it even more. "I'm afraid not. It'll be a while before I can obtain it. I need more information."

"So that means you're stuck here in these mountains?" she asked, noticing his grip was tightening and his body slowly inching its way towards her.

"We'll see…" he said to her seductively.

Raxiel did not like where this was going. She finally submitted to defeat and shifted her gaze downwards. "I'm finished rinsing off. Excuse me," she said, jerking away so she could be released. The man let go of her with an unemotional expression. She slowly walked back into the cave.

Suddenly, the man began to speak to her, "Kunoichi, if you can see in the dark, why not leave now?"

Raxiel looked back at him. "That would be breaking a promise I made."

The man turned to face her. His loose black hair began to blow in the wind, making him look omnipotent.

And that's just how Raxiel felt about him…

And she hated it…

Raxiel slowly sat down in the same spot she had been beforehand. The enigma also slowly made his way back into the cave. As he passed her, he spoke to her saying only one word, "Itachi."

Raxiel looked up at him, flabbergasted by what he had just said. Not taking his eyes off her, he leaned onto the cave's curved wall and spoke again, "My name: Uchiha, Itachi."

Raxiel's eyes brightened in understanding. She nodded, showing him she understood.

Itachi soon shifted his gaze back to the fire. "You've never heard the name?"

"No. Never. Then again, don't be surprised about it."

"How so?"

Raxiel sighed, her eyes showing drowsiness. "It's a long story…"

"We've got all of two hours before the sun comes up," he said, urging her to tell her story.

Raxiel gazed at him again. Itachi stared her down until Raxiel finally gave in again, too tired to argue about it. "Alright, you asked for it. I… I'm not originally from this world. I'm from a different world far away. I was sent here as one of the experiments to see if we could reach other worlds like this."

Raxiel noticed his face was still unemotional.

"You seem very interested about my life," she said sarcastically. "Why don't we just drop it and get some sleep. A few hours won't hurt, eh?"

Still no response…

"Gee! No one in this world knows how to hold a conversation," she thought to herself as she started to get up and walk towards the wall of the cave.

As she sat down and leaned her back against the wall trying to get herself to sleep, Itachi watched her, thinking that she was joking. He began to speak to her again, "What world is it that you are from then?" he asked openly.

Raxiel opened her eyes and glanced at him. She sighed in depression from not having gotten even a minute of sleep. "If I remembered, I would tell you, but I don't. My memories of the world were erased, and –"

Suddenly, a voice was heard. Raxiel's eyes widened. Itachi quickly glanced towards the entrance. "It's Kisame," he said abruptly.

Raxiel glanced at Itachi curiously, "You mean you have a friend?"

"An ally, you mean," he said quickly. The sun was beginning to rise, making the road somewhat visible. "If he sees you, he will kill you."

"But couldn't you explain –"

"No, my orders were to kill everyone in sight. I have already failed at that. You must leave now; head for the village," Itachi said in an almost tense voice.

"I don't know how to –"

"Just follow the road to the north. It'll bring you close to the village, and you should have no trouble from there."

Raxiel nodded and quickly got up. She started to make her way towards the road when her arm was quickly grasped again. She looked back and glanced at Itachi.

"Make sure no one sees where you are coming from, or they might get suspicious." His grip tightened on her arm. "…We'll meet again."

He swiftly let go of her, and Raxiel nodded. Quickly, she took off running towards the north road.

Itachi's eyes followed her until she was out of sight…

Disappeared…


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

The sun beat down as though it had not rained at all the night before. Once again, the mosquitoes were out, this time, enjoying Raxiel's blood. But Raxiel wasn't worried about mosquitoes. She wasn't thinking about how hot it was or how humid the air was.

Her mind was somewhere else…

As she swayed her feet that were in the water while she was sitting on the edge of the spring, she couldn't help but wonder what Itachi was doing…

"_Make sure no one sees where you are coming from, or they might get suspicious…"_

Those words kept playing in her head over and over again as her feet began to splash the water quietly.

"I wonder what he meant by that," she thought out loud as she stared at the flowers she had put in the spring just two nights ago before Gaara had left.

An idea suddenly hit her…

She quickly glanced at her reflection in the water…

Blood…

Tired eyes…

And a messy appearance…

"I get it…" she thought. "But what did he mean when he said, 'We'll meet again'?"

Her right foot splashed the water harshly, sending water onto Raxiel's face. She laughed to herself quietly, forgetting everything around her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and suddenly, when things were just perfect, she heard a small humming noise…

It was getting louder…

And quickly, she recognized the sound…

"Die, you mosquito!" she said angrily while clapping her hands together with the mosquito between them. She dipped her hands into the water to clean them off, when she soon saw something on her arm…

Sand…

Gaara…

"The promise!" She quickly snapped out of her mesmerization and took off towards the hotel.

"Oh, he's going to get mad at me if I don't go inside immediately!"

And with that, she made her way towards the hotel, killing any mosquitoes that wanted to make a meal out of her.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

There are always two good things about a hotel: first, a shower; second, a bed.

Raxiel was looking forward to these two things as she saw the hotel coming into her view. Even though her stomach was growling to the loudest it could, her heavy eyes were winning by a milestone.

And then, another "wonderful" conclusion hit her:

"I don't have a key to my room…"

She stopped right in front of the hotel with a defeated look on her face.

"I'm doomed!" she said out loud, thinking that there was no one around.

She soon found out she was wrong…

"What's this about being doomed?" a voice behind her called. Raxiel turned around to see Iruka walking towards her.

Raxiel tried to smile, but remembering her messy appearance wasn't making her feel any better. "It just so happens I accidentally locked myself out of my hotel room…" she said with embarrassment.

Iruka laughed. "You can always ask the maintenance people if they have an extra key," he said genially, now closely examining her appearance. Raxiel blushed when she figured out what he was doing. "Um…" he started to say hesitantly, "Do you want me to go in and ask for you?" Raxiel nodded, and soon Iruka was inside looking for someone to ask for a spare key. Raxiel patiently waited outside.

"What if they don't have a spare?" she thought.

Then an idea snapped into her head…

Just as Iruka was coming out, she quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him inside with her.

"Whoa! Hey! What's the rush?" he asked, confused by her actions.

Did you get a spare?" she asked nicely as she led him up the stairs to see the second floor.

"Well, no, since the staff was taking off for lunch."

"Is it really lunch time already?" Raxiel thought to herself in shock. "I have a plan to get inside," she said to him calmly. Iruka looked at her curiously, not knowing what she was going to do.

Once they reached her room, Raxiel pulled out a small knife and started to pick at the door's lock. Soon, the door swung right open, revealing Raxiel's room. Iruka's eyes widened. "What did you just do? Pick the lock?"

Raxiel blushed. "Well, yeah. I couldn't wait to get a spare, and I was really in a hurry. Finally I remembered I had this; it's been a while since I've used it. The emergency is over now, though." She turned to face him. "Anyways, sorry for the trouble," she said apologetically.

Iruka shrugged his shoulders. "It's no big deal. I had the day off from work, so I thought I'd just stop by to see how you were."

"How'd you know I had a room here?" she asked curiously.

"I saw you the other night here with your friend. I just figured you'd be staying here."

"Well, you got that right," Raxiel stated, and Iruka smiled at her. "So, are you a kunoichi? I see your weapons you have seem like they've been used a lot."

Raxiel frowned. "No, I'm not. I just happen to be okay at fighting and use it only in defense for myself."

"I see. You know, if you wanted to become one, I could help you out," he said openly. "You'd probably make a good ninja. You might even be able to pass the Chunin Exams."

"Hmm… I'll think about it," Raxiel said, not having a clue about what he was talking about, but she was so tired that she didn't want to make another conversation with him.

Iruka saw her tired face and started to walk away. "Well, I'll let you… clean yourself up…" he said hesitantly.

"What? Oh yeah. Thanks," Raxiel replied shyly. Iruka waved at her and soon disappeared down the stairs.

As Raxiel made her way into her room and closed the door, she sighed.

Then she remembered yet another thing…

Her window…

Her broken window…

Raxiel hit her forehead with frustration. "Dang it! I could have just climbed in through the window!" she yelled out loud to herself.

Trying to get over her stupidity, Raxiel started to walk towards her bed. "Maybe I'll take a shower later. I don't think I could stay awake while I'm taking a shower. I practically passed out while I was talking to Iruka," she though. The more she stared down at her bed, the more appealing it became…

With no more energy left, she fell onto it…

And as soon as she felt the bed, she was asleep…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Wake up, Raxiel," came a blunt voice that was faintly familiar.

Raxiel opened her eyes slightly to see a read-headed teen sitting on top of the windowsill.

Raxiel moaned loudly. Her body ached, and the last thing she wanted to do was wake up.

Still dazed out, Raxiel mumbled to the young man, "Ten minutes, Whoever-you-are. Give me ten minutes, and then I'll fight you."

Gaara's eyes widened. "Is she drunk?" he thought as he closely examined her disheveled appearance. "She doesn't smell good either…" Gaara was starting to become even more curious about what she had been doing the past few days.

Gaara jumped down from the windowsill into her room and walked over to her bed. "Raxiel, what have you been doing?"

"Sleeping. And I was dreaming about "black" until you woke me up, you dun- "

"Wait, I know that voice!" Raxiel thought. Suddenly, her eyes shot wide open. "Gaara! What are you -?"

Raxiel sat up soon remembering her messy appearance. She hit herself in the forehead. "Oh, shoot! Oh… oh…"

Gaara was looking at her, flabbergasted by her certain outburst. "You look terrible. Have you been in a fight?"

Raxiel mumbled "no" to him…

"Have you been drinking?"

Again, Raxiel mumbled to Gaara "no".

Gaara became impatient. "Then you're lying to me."

Raxiel finally shifted her eyes onto him. She could see the cold glare he was giving her, and, this time, she had no way of escaping it.

Excuses…

Raxiel sighed. "Okay, Gaara, you win. Something tragic happened while you were gone."

Gaara's eyes shot wide open at her with concernment. "What? Tell me."

Raxiel gazed at him with "tears" in her eyes. "I only wanted to help! Please, don't get mad at me! –"

"What happened?" Gaara snapped.

"There was this elderly woman, you see, and she saw me from my window. She threw a rock at it, causing it to break, (that's why it's not really a window anymore) and so I asked her what was wrong. Well, it just so happened that her kitty got stuck up in a tree and needed help. So I went outside, located the tree the cat was on, climbed it, and rescued her cat."

Gaara's concernment soon turned into anger. "You got all scratched up from climbing a tree and rescuing a cat…"

Raxiel nodded vigorously. Gaara sighed with frustration and turned his attention out towards the broken window so he wouldn't lash out at her. "Well, once you clean up, come outside, and wear something nice."

Raxiel looked at him with confusion.

"I'll meet you outside in an hour," Gaara said as he walked away. Soon, he vanished into sand.

Raxiel looked out the window towards the road to see Gaara walking away and smiled, relieved she had gotten away with the… lie.

"I guess his mission is over," she thought. She soon shifted her gaze down to the windowsill.

Her eyes widened…

A rose made out of sand was sitting in the middle of the windowsill. Raxiel gently picked it up and looked at it with bewilderment. She finally laughed to herself as she set the flower on the nightstand next to her bed.

As she left to take a shower, she didn't notice the granules of sand that fell off her arm…


	14. Chapter 13

Author's Note:

Wow! I can't thank you enough for your reviews! They've all been encouraging, and have helped me out with making the story even better.

Another "wow" is this chapter, which is really long. Unfortunately this will be my last submission for a few days (roughly four, I believe). I'll be out of town, but don't worry! I'll still be writing down the story in one of my note books (believe me, guys, the story is not even half way over). I just hope you will stick with reading it, and I'll stick to writing it. The reason why I can update so quickly is because I have almost all of the story written down, therefore, all I have to do is copy it down. It might be a good thing that I will be away so I can finish the story and have it complete so I can still update every day (hopefully).

Okay, I'll shut up now, and let you read the chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 13:

Raxiel sighed as she stepped in front of the mirror to see what kind of a mess she looked like even after getting ready.

The last time she saw her reflection was yesterday at the spring before Iruka had helped her out with her hotel door. Sleeping for a whole day and a half had made her hair almost impossible to look at least presentable. Therefore, she had pulled it up into a ponytail.

Now it was six o'clock in the afternoon…

A half hour later, and she'd be meeting Gaara for some unknown reason…

Raxiel's stomach growled. She knew she needed to eat, but when she caught a glimpse at herself even after showering and getting ready, her appetite slowly started to lessen.

"I might have to take another quick shower…" she thought as she sighed and made her way towards the bathroom.

"Or maybe if he sees me like this, he won't want to go out with me, and I can sleep some more…"

Raxiel yawned one last time before she shut the door to the bathroom.

"That's really selfish!" she scolded to herself.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Once she was content with her appearance, Raxiel slipped on some flip-flops and headed towards the door…

The door to her refrigerator.

"A couple of quick bites won't hurt," she thought to herself as she pulled out an apple and glanced at the clock. "I should be down there right now…"

She shut the refrigerator door and made her way downstairs with the apple in her hand.

When she had made her way down the stairs, as expected, Gaara was waiting for her.

Already, she knew she was in trouble…

As she began to get closer to him, she noticed he was wearing something more formal than what she had always seen him in. He wore a mahogany overcoat that zipped up in front from the hips to the neck. Black pants and black flip-flops covered his bottom-half fully while the overcoat hung over the pants.

"Sheesh… and all I'm wearing is blue jeans and a shirt," Raxiel thought, as she made her way closer to him.

Without even taking one look at her, Gaara stated two words to her, "You're late."

Raxiel sighed. "By ten minutes, and ten minutes only. Consider yourself fortunate that my hair decided to allow me to pull it back."

"Why?"

"Because if it hadn't, then I might not be standing here right now, curious to know what's going on."

Gaara finally faced her. "I'll tell you later."

Raxiel nodded in agreement and lifted her apple up to take a quick bite out of it.

Unfortunately, a hand clutched onto hers before she could take her first bite…

"Don't eat that. It'll ruin your appetite," the skinny redhead ordered.

Once again, Raxiel sighed. "Well, if you hadn't eaten all day, you might not think the same."

"I haven't," he said blandly.

"…Oh…"

Gaara noticed her hand wasn't so fixed on the apple, and he took the apple away from her. He set it on a table and looked at her again, this time, with a more friendly face. "Let's go."

But before they even took a step, Raxiel began to make a comparison about her normal clothes to his more stylish clothes again. "Are you sure?" she asked uncertainly.

Gaara noticed her uneasiness. He closely looked at her face to see what was wrong. "Is something bothering you?"

"Well, when you said to wear something nice, I didn't know you meant that nice."

"Is that what she's worried about!" he thought to himself as he sighed unusually loudly.

"These were the only other clothes I brought besides my usual ones. You look nice. Let's go," he said rather quickly and without emotion. Raxiel knew she wasn't going to get anything else out of him about the concernment she had just stated. "All right, sure," she said nonchalantly.

"Did I just say she looked nice?" Gaara thought as they exited the hotel lobby.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"But, Gaara," Raxiel started to say, "it looks really crowded… and expensive."

"I made reservations; besides, I'm paying for it," Gaara said to her reassuringly.

Raxiel started to become more uneasy as they entered the restaurant. It's not that she wasn't excited about going out to eat and actually having a "full meal," but something about this place told her that it wasn't your typical restaurant. It seemed as if only rich people went there…

Maybe millionaires…

Another thing that caught Raxiel's attention was the location of this restaurant. It was right by some beautiful landscaping and not at all close to village.

"Is he really that rich?" she thought as a waitress approached them.

"Right this way, sir. It's all ready," she said as she started to walk towards some stairs leading upward.

As they followed her, Raxiel couldn't help but wonder where they were going to be seated. As they went up the stairs higher, the noises of people and the clanging of dishes became less audible. After climbing a few floors, they reached what appeared to be the roof of the tall restaurant. The waitress opened the door and led them into an unusual room.

The room was small – small enough to only seat two people there comfortably, It was a dark grey room with vines climbing two of the walls. On the outer wall, there was an opening that brought in almost all of the light from outside in exception to the tiny lights that were placed upon the climbing vines, but even so, the opening was narrow, making the room murky.

As they both took their seats at the small yet ornate table that was in the middle of the room, the waitress gave them menus and left the small room, leaving the two in silence.

Raxiel couldn't believe how unique the room was and didn't bother to touch her menu. Gaara soon noticed she wasn't reading the menu or, surprisingly, talking. He looked up from his menu at her, watching her look all around the room.

"It'll be here all night, Raxiel," Gaara said calmly, and she quickly looked over at him.

"Oh, sorry," she replied, taking her menu so she could find something that sounded likeable.

Just as she had guessed, the food there was outrageously priced way too high, and some of the names of the food, she couldn't even make out.

"Gaara, why does bread here cost seven times as much as the bread in the market costs?" she asked, her eyes widening each time she looked at another course on the menu.

Gaara glanced up to see the expression on her face. "Stop looking at the price, and pick something you want. I'm paying for it." He put his eyes back on his menu.

Sharply, Raxiel set down her menu, ready and excited to quarrel yet again with him. "What if I ordered everything on this menu, would you pay for it?" she asked, her voice still very polite.

"Why do you ask?" Gaara said, oblivious at how excited she was.

"Don't you think this place rips you off?"

"Do you not like it here?" he asked dully.

"No, I just –"

"Look, this is the best restaurant in this village. Of course, it's going to be expensive, but I thought you might like it here. If you want to get something cheap, that's fine. I was just… -"

"What am I telling her?" he thought.

But Raxiel caught on. "Look, I'm sorry. I was being ungrateful. I'm just not used to this kind of luxury."

Gaara looked up at her and nodded, understanding what she meant. "Would it make you feel better if we split something?'

Eagerly, Raxiel nodded. Gaara sighed, still looking at her with amusement. "What do you want?"

Raxiel's eager smile soon faded. "Oh, I don't know… Why don't you decide, since you're paying for it."

"She really doesn't like to take advantage of other people," Gaara thought as he finally chose what he wanted and waited for the waitress to come back.

Once he had ordered, Raxiel got up to walk over to the window. Gaara soon stepped beside her.

Raxiel decided to break the silence. "So, what brings you back so quickly? The mission wasn't as bad as you had thought?"

Gaara took a sip of his water that he had snatched from the table. "Apparently, someone had found some of the spies we were looking for already dead.

Raxiel's eyes widened. "Really?"

"What's more intriguing is the fact that their bodies were still intact with each other, no blood, no wounds, nothing."

Raxiel started to walk back to her seat. The shock that had just occurred in her body made her legs weak, and she didn't want to take any chances of passing out.

"Was it Itachi? Was it him who killed those spies?"

Gaara noticed her sudden tremors. He turned around to face her and leaned on the side of the wall. "It appears that they were mentally tortured," he said calmly as Raxiel sat down.

"Uh-huh…"

"Therefore," he continued, "we didn't have much of a mission after that."

"Was there any trace of any other humans there?" Raxiel asked hesitantly.

"No, nothing at all."

Raxiel started to play with the intricate tablecloth. "Gaara?"

"Yes?"

"Was the team of spies… were they Orochimaru's gang?"

Gaara's eyes slightly widened. "How did you know?"

The tablecloth ripped.

"Lucky guess…" she said, intermingled with her own world. A long silence was kept between them until an awkward noise was heard…

The sound of a stomach growling…

Raxiel's cheeks turned bright red as she wrapped her arms around her stomach and began to laugh quietly. Gaara watched her childish behavior and soon let a smirk escape from his face.

"I guess I'm hungry."

"It should be here soon," Gaara said, taking another drink of his water. Raxiel also took a sip of her water, but soon was interrupted with another thought…

"By the way, I think I had some of your sand on my arm when you were gone. I tried to get it off, but it wouldn't budge. Do you know what that's all about?"

Gaara's eyes widened…

"If I tell her, she'll be livid with me," he thought, desperately taking another mouthful of water to give him time to decide whether or not he should tell her.

"Maybe I could make her understand…" he thought.

"It's a sensor; I put it on you to make sure you were okay."

Raxiel's eyes widened. "Wh-What do you mean?"

"If he finds out where I've been, he'll be livid with me," she thought, anxiously awaiting his reply.

"If the sand had come into contact with blood, then I would have sensed danger. Therefore, I would have come back to see if you were all right. Seeing as though it never touched blood, I knew you were alright."

"But how!" Raxiel thought. "That's impossible! I was covered in blood, unless…

Unless…

Itachi."

Raxiel nodded and took another drink of her water. Surprised by her calmness, Gaara's eyes widened.

She wasn't mad…

She was perfectly fine with it…

"Your dinner is served!" said the waitress carrying a hug plate of food and another medium-sized plate with nothing on it. As she set the plates down, Raxiel said a "thank you" to her, while Gaara simply nodded.

Raxiel's eyes widened. As she looked at the tender meat and the beautiful vegetables that went along with it, her mouth watered, making it almost impossible for her to control herself. Gaara glanced at her and saw her eyes glistening. He couldn't help but grin at her, making Raxiel take her eyes off the food and put them on him.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"What? No, I was just –… glad to see you were content," Gaara said, knowing she knew he was lying. His smile soon vanished.

Raxiel eagerly took the extra plate and started to pick out some of the food she wanted. As she piled the food up on her plate with her fork, Gaara started to watch her curiously. When she reached over to grab another piece of meat, he took careful notice of her bare arm that was reaching out almost towards him.

He wondered what it felt like…

What her bare arm felt like…

He wanted to call his sand… wanted to make it touch her arm…

Unfortunately, he had forced himself to leave it at the hotel in Raxiel's room. He knew it would make her more comfortable if he did.

"Gaara, you'd better eat before it gets cold," Raxiel said, making Gaara snap out of his concentration. Soon he started to eat, as well.

"By the way," Raxiel said with a bite-full in her mouth. Gaara could see she was starving, "I talked to Iruka yesterday."

Gaara almost choked. "You did? How so?" he said trying to swallow some water.

"He came to see me. We were talking, and he thought I should consider becoming a kunoichi."

Once again, Gaara choked, this time, though, he was coughing. Raxiel stopped her eating to see if he was okay.

"Do you even know how rough the life of a kunoichi is? Do you know it's putting your life in danger?"

"Well, sure I do; I just thought, since I'm going to be here for a while, I might as well make something with my life here, don't you think?"

"Anything but that," Gaara mumbled.

Raxiel was starting to get impatient. "Well, I don't want to spend my time here stuck in a hotel."

Gaara glanced at her again, this time, with frustration in his eyes, as well.

"It's not even official yet if he's going to take me as his apprentice," Raxiel said defensively.

"Next time, when you are stuck in a hotel, don't answer the door. It seems to cause trouble," Gaara stated calmly and quietly.

"Why is it trouble! Can't you just be happy for me?" Raxiel said angrily, startling Gaara.

"That's not something to be happy about," he said blandly.

Raxiel sighed with stubbornness and looked down at the floor. A long silence followed. Gaara was starting to get annoyed with her attitude. He picked up the menu, acting amused.

"Sunagakure wants me back soon."

Raxiel finally took her eyes off the floor and put them on his. "Your home-town?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," he glanced back at her.

"What for?"

"I have to sign some paper-work and help out around town. About two months ago, my country was attacked by another land. Since then, the townspeople have been trying to rebuild the land." He put his eyes back on the menu.

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry."

"A lot of people died…" Gaara said, still trying to change her mind about becoming a kunoichi.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'll die." Raxiel knew all too well where he was going with his conversation.

"I'm aware of that. But that doesn't mean you couldn't get hurt."

"Well, then I guess I'll have to train twice as hard, eh?"

Gaara glanced up at her. Raxiel quickly smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess," his gaze back on the menu.

"I'm winning!" Raxiel thought. "I've got to think of something else…"

Soon Raxiel's eyes lit up with an idea. She leaned over the table with her face almost too close to Gaara's. Gaara quickly shifted his eyes upwards to see her right in front of him. Her smile seemed… almost different.

"You know, Iruka might even be able to give me a few pointers on all of the kunoichi stuff…" Raxiel shifted her eyes upwards, looking up at the ceiling. Gaara sensed that this was all too different from her usual-self. He started to move his eyes downwards to look at the menu, but before he could make it all the way down, something else caught his attention…

"That shirt is showing off too much with her leaning forwards," he thought. But still that was the very thing he couldn't take his eyes off, and Raxiel seemed to be oblivious about it as she kept looking up at the little lights dangling from the ceiling.

"No, I can't think like this. She's too… too good…"

Red…

The color of her shirt…

It signaled if he was trustworthy or not…

Trustworthy to her…

Trustworthy for her…

Gaara set the menu down on the table and leaned back in his chair, trying to obtain more of his personal space. Raxiel quickly glanced at him, noticing that he was moving away.

"What makes you want to be a kunoichi if you don't even know anything about it?"

"Um, well,…" Gaara glanced at her to see he had caught a weak spot. Quickly after, she replied defensively, "It's never too late to learn, right?"

"You mean, it's never too early to learn."

"No, I meant what I said. And why not learn a different type of combat?"

"Because, Raxiel, this "type" of combat that you are talking about takes years to learn," Gaara said, growing more impatient.

"Well, Iruka said that if I considered it, he'd teach me everything quickly so I could try to pass the Chunin Exams. Don't you think I could do that?"

Abruptly, Gaara leaned forward, breaking both their personal space.

"I couldn't care less about this "Iruka" guy you're talking about. You've only talked him a few times, and yet it seems like you both are close friends."

Raxiel's glittering eyes soon turned into anger. "Kind of like we are, eh?"

Soon Gaara was losing control of his temper. He leaned even more forward, now noticing that Raxiel's eyes were beginning to widen with concernment.

"No, you seem to be better friends with him. I couldn't help but see the way the both of you smile at each other. Taking it that the only reason you smile at me is because I helped you and still am, I suppose I'm nothing more than a –"

Raxiel stood up and banged her hands on the table. "Are you saying I'm just using you!"

Gaara looked up at her. "Yes, I suppose I am," he said calmly. Raxiel's eyes widened as Gaara stood up straight. "That's how I feel about everyone. I'm just a puppet to be toyed. Why would anyone care for a money-maker?"

Raxiel shook her head in rebellion. 'How could you even think that! Are you saying that all of this time, you were only faking me as a friend? Is that what you're saying? Because I thought we were actually close. I thought we were even closer than I am with Iruka. I really wanted to be your friend, you know?"

Gaara's eyes widened as he remembered what she said just a few days ago…

_"I'm your friend…"_

"Why did I just lash out on her like that?" he thought.

Red…

"Gaara, are you okay!" Raxiel said as Gaara held his head, covering the red tattoo that he had on his forehead.

Soon he felt her hands placed on his shoulders with a gentle yet firm touch.

Jealousy…

Recovering himself, he stood up straight and turned his head to look behind him at her. Raxiel's eyes were dancing with concernment.

"I'm fine. Just… I lost myself for a minute."

Raxiel soon eased her grip on his shoulders and relaxed a little. "I see…" Soon she let go of him and walked back over to her chair to grab her newly purchased purse he had bought her.

"Come to think of it," she thought, "it's almost like he owns me…"

"I think I should go now," she said in a gentle voice.

But Gaara wasn't ready for the night to be over. "Uh-wait! Wait a minute, I thought I could… order some dessert, if you want some…"

Raxiel looked into his eyes.

She wanted to leave the weird atmosphere they were in. She wanted to cool off and try to stay away from him for a while.

Her efforts automatically failed when she saw in his eyes desperateness…

And loneliness…

She set her handbag down on the floor and sat back down in her chair. As Gaara sat down, Raxiel could hear him sigh with relief.

"Only if you choose," Raxiel said quietly.

"That's fine," he said, trying to regain his composure.

"What's wrong with me?" Gaara thought as he looked down at the menu again, choosing what to order.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

"Why a kunoichi, out of all the things she could be?" Gaara thought to himself as they were making their way to the hotel. The streetlights were not around them anymore since they had made their way into the forest next to the spring. The only thing they had as a light and guide was the full moon that traveled with them.

"And why has she been looking down ever since we left the restaurant?"

Something was wrong…

"Raxiel, do you want to stop by the spring for a minute?" Gaara asked quietly.

Raxiel's head shot up at him and looked at him; scared yet surprised he'd asked. "I think… I think I should –"

Gaara interrupted, "Raxiel, I need to explain some things, and now is a better time than ever. Just a few minutes?"

Raxiel knew he had something on his mind, and she knew he was being as stubborn as ever. Giving up, Raxiel slightly nodded, and they walked towards the spring with Raxiel looking over at him with curiosity.

As he sat down on the rock and motioned his head a little to come sit with him, Raxiel slowly made her way to him and sat down beside him. Their eyes were both fixed on the smooth water.

Trying to find the right words, Gaara hesitantly started to speak, "Raxiel, I… I have some necessary things I need to say to you. Don't take them the wrong way, though; I never meant to hide these things from you."

Raxiel finally shifted her eyes onto him. After a few seconds of silence she finally asked, "What is it?"

"Firstly, I'm sorry for tonight –"

Raxiel's eyes shot wide open, surprised by his apology.

"I wasn't thinking right when I lashed out at you. If you could sit here for a few more minutes, I could tell you who I really am."

"'Who I really am'?" she thought.

After a long wait, Raxiel replied to him. "Sure, I'll stay."

Gaara's eyes soon shifted over to the two roses in the spring. "My past… wasn't a pleasurable one. I was not wanted. My mother, before she died while having me, cursed my village and gave me the name "Gaara" – a self-loving carnage. My father wasn't any better. He ordered that a sand demon named Shukaku be placed in me, giving me powers and abilities that were overwhelming even to the towns-people. He said I was his prized possession, and started teaching me secret techniques to train me to become even more powerful. But once those powers were awakened inside me, the ones of Shukaku, I could not control the sand anymore, making it a threat to my country. At the age of six, I was considered a criminal. I had emotions that were unpredictable, and Shukaku would react to those emotions by killing someone… anyone that was around me. If anyone tried to hurt me, even touch me, the sand I unconsciously carried with me would form a barrier around me, making me invincible. My father sensed this unpredictable power, and soon gave me over to my Uncle, Yashamaru, to take care of me.

Gaara stopped for a minute, sensing that Raxiel was tense. Taking a heavy sigh, he continued, "Love was not shown to me, and what I thought was love, was only hatred. While I was being taken care of by my Uncle, I soon began to grow fond of him, thinking that I might be able to give this "friendship" thing to him. Soon, I began to think of trying to love him… And then it happened."

He paused for a minute, making Raxiel look over at him. "What happened?" she asked.

Gaara glanced over at her with a forceful half-smile on his face. "One night, Yashamaru began to explain to me what love is. When I began to understand, I started trying to become friendlier and tried to make friends. Unfortunately, no one wanted to be my friend. The only things they'd say to me were 'Monster' or 'Demon.' One night, I began to cry, feeling my heart was broken when suddenly, my sand shot up to form a barrier. I looked behind me to find a ninja whose face I could not see. He was trying to kill me, you see… trying to kill the 'criminal.' I had no other choice but to fight back, wounding the ninja so that he could not stand. That's when I came over to him. I took off his mask, and there lay my Uncle. Apparently, my father had given him the opportunity to kill me, and he took it. Soon, after his death, I became a nervous wreck and had no trust in anyone by myself. I soon had no purpose in life and chose to try to find it."

Gaara gazed out at the spring. Raxiel, flabbergasted as she was, didn't say anything. She looked down at the boulder they both were sitting on.

She shifted her eyes on him…

"He looks so warm, yet so cold…" she thought.

After the long silence was shared by the two, mesmerized sixteen-year olds, Raxiel gathered up enough courage to talk again. "Have you found it yet?"

Gaara glanced at her calmly. "What do you mean?"

Raxiel looked up, giving both of them eye contact. "Your purpose in life, have you found it?"

Not liking the eye contact, he hesitantly looked away. "In a way, yes."

"'In a way'?" she repeated questioningly.

"That's the other thing I've been needing to tell you…" Gaara soon lowered his head, and Raxiel's eyes widened with anticipation. "Well, what is it?" she asked.

"Raxiel, I… I'm not just a person who helps my village; I'm not just a messenger. In fact, I'm much more than that. About four years ago, my father was murdered. He was the ruler of my village – the Kazekage. Since he's dead, they… the village agreed it'd be best to make me the Kazekage."

Raxiel's eyes widened with shock. "You're the Kazekage! The leader!"

Gaara finally glanced at her. "Yes. My older brother, Kankuro, was supposed to become the Kazekage, but due to my power and physical protection, they decided it'd be best for me to take the place."

Raxiel closed her eyes in disbelief. "You never thought of telling this article of information about yourself to me?"

"I was going to, but when you started talking about how you should treat leaders differently, I didn't want that to happen," he stated defensively.

"And to think, all of this time, I've been so disrespectful to you. I mean I'm just another worthless girl, in your perspective. Why'd you even want to be around me in the first place?" she said, looking at him and trying to find answers.

"Because you treat me equally. I've really never been treated like that. …It's nice when people don't know who you really are, and they treat you like a regular person."

"I guess I understand. So that's how come you're so rich?" Raxiel asked, moving onto another subject.

"Yes, that's why. My father was one of the richest men in the world. Unfortunately for him, he never used any of his money."

"Wow! I guess that makes you one of the richest men, too," Raxiel said thinking out loud to herself.

Gaara looked over at her to see her amused face. "You're impressed?" he asked curiously.

"Well, no. Fame and money don't impress me."

Gaara nodded in agreement.

"If he can tell me so much about himself, then I should tell him where I'm from," Raxiel thought.

"I guess I should tell you about myself, as well," Raxiel said nonchalantly, her eyes shifted towards the spring.

Gaara cocked his head a little in confusion. "You mean, your past?"

"Well, as much of my past as I can remember," she said softly. "I grew up at a place that I can't recall the name. To tell you the truth, it's actually a different world then this one. I'm considered an 'experiment' due to the many experimentations they did with me. Actually, coming to this world was an experiment they did with me."

She looked down for a minute to concentrate on the next set of words she wanted to say. "When I was five, I had my memories erased. A family took me, and I grew up with them, thinking that this family was my real family. But then something happened. Someone was looking for me, destroying everyone in his path until he found me. My 'stepmother', as I called her, took me and we fled to another world. How we got there, I don't remember. I stayed on that other world with my stepmother for about ten years until the man found me again. This time, I had escaped by myself, wandering from world to world for a few months. He soon caught up to me though, and I was forced to work for him as his 'prized specimen.' Then one day, I found one of his new machines, and I turned it on to see what would happen. Turns out I somehow got here.

After finishing, a long silence was held between them.

Looking down at the boulder, Gaara began to speak. "Why go back then? Why not stay here and never go back?"

Raxiel finally looked at him. "Because, Gaara, I don't have –"

"You can stay with me. I'll take care of you, and you'll be free from him. Wouldn't you like that?"

They both made eye contact with each other. Raxiel soon found herself smiling. "I sure would."

"Then you'll come with me to Sunagakure?"

"Do I see in his eyes begging?" Raxiel thought as she curiously looked in his eyes.

Pleading…

"…Alright, I guess," she finally said, somewhat relieved that she had said 'yes.'

Gaara could almost feel his heart begin the beat faster. He couldn't believe that she had agreed to stay with him. He couldn't believe that she didn't have to go away.

He would never let her…

Never let her get away…

She was his…

His own –

"Gaara?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, he replied, "Yes?"

"This might sound bad, but I'm really fortunate to have found a friend like you. And if there is any way I can pay you back, I would really like to."

Friend…

Nothing more…

"…Raxiel?"

"Yeah?"

Gaara shifted his gaze to the spring. "You like water, right? So does that mean you like rain, too?"

Raxiel gave him a confused look. "Well, sure. It's nice, too."

"What do you think of sand?" he asked calmly.

"Sand… Hmm…"

Raxiel shifted her eyes onto the spring, as well. Gaara noticed and fixed his eyes on her, waiting for an answer. Finally finding the right words, she spoke, "Sand is different, in many ways. It's almost like an opposite of water. It's the land that's next to the sea. It's rough instead of smooth. Almost as if it is a security."

"'Security'?" Gaara repeated.

"Yeah. Your feet can rest on it. You can lay your head down and sleep on it peacefully; while, on the other hand, water keeps you awake, if you're in it."

Gaara looked down at her bare hand that was resting in between them. "Do you like it?"

"Hmm… Yes, Gaara, I do like it. I like security and protection from drowning, so therefore, I like sand."

Gaara was on the verge of touching her hand…

He wanted to feel security…

He wanted to feel protection for the first time…

Not just on the outside, but on the inside…

His heart... It was sick… and weak…

Peace was all he wanted…

"I guess you're kind of like my security, since you're helping me out so much," Raxiel said nonchalantly.

Gaara snapped his hand back into his lap. He couldn't believe she had said that.

Raxiel sensed his nervousness and decided to break the awkward topic they were on. "I think I should get going. I'm getting kind of sleepy anyways."

"Eh – Do you want me to walk you back?"

Raxiel could sense uneasiness within him, and again, she submitted to him. "Sure, that'd be nice."

Standing up together at the same time, their shoulders accidentally brushed each other's, sending chills up Gaara's body.

If he was going to be a friend…

Only a friend…

He needed to get his feelings straight.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"I'm taking it we'll be leaving sometime this week," Raxiel said blandly as they started to climb the stairs to the second floor of the hotel.

"I still have an extra day I can spend here. That'll give you time to get your necessary things together."

"Necessary?"

"When we get to Suna, you can go shopping to replace those items you didn't bring with you."

"Gaara, I mean –"

Gaara quickly shot her a stubborn glare. "That's an order, Raxiel."

Raxiel's mouth snapped shut when she heard him say that. If she was going to go with him and let him pay for everything, the least she could do was make him happy…

Anything to pay off the huge debt she already owed him…

Even more so because he was the Kazekage…

They were getting closer to the second floor.

"Um… Gaara?"

"Yes?"

Raxiel started to laugh a little. "I know this sounds weird, but if there's any kind of work or you need me to help you at any time, I'm willing to work for my stay."

They finally made it to the second floor.

Gaara sighed loudly. "I don't want you to –"

"Yeah, but I would feel much better. I don't want to become unused, so any kind of work I would gladly appreciate," Raxiel said seriously.

"You really don't like to take advantage of other people, do you?" Gaara said bluntly.

"No, not really. I'd just feel better about it."

"She has a point," Gaara thought. "When we get there, I'll be busy doing things, and she'll be doing nothing. She'll be bored…"

"I'll see if I have any use for you when we get there," he stated casually.

Raxiel smiled another one of her priceless smiles at him. "Thank you."

"I should be the one thanking you," he said hesitantly. Raxiel only laughed.

When they had finally made it to her room, their moods had both changed from enjoyment to seriousness. As Raxiel stuck her hand inside her blue jean pocket, Gaara finally took a good look at the attire she was wearing, and he finally realized why she had seemed so tense at he beginning. He was wearing just the right kind of attire for the restaurant; while she, on the other hand, had only picked out a simple wardrobe for herself.

She wasn't used to it…

He knew it…

She wasn't used to the word "formal"…

He didn't have to ask her; he just knew it.

Raxiel soon noticed him staring at her, and she glanced at him in bewilderment. "Is something wrong?"

"No."

Raxiel pressed her lips into an "O" shape. Soon she found the key to her room and started to unlock the door. As the door began to swing open, Raxiel's eyes widened as she saw something in her room that wasn't hers. Gaara took a few steps towards her and entered her room. He picked up the object, and in an instant, Raxiel knew exactly what it was.

Gaara fastened the guord back onto him and soon looked up at her, seeing that she wanted an explanation. "I didn't want to bring it with me. I had thought that you wouldn't mind," he gave her a hesitant face.

Finally catching onto what he was saying, Raxiel answered back. "Oh, I see. It's fine; I was just surprised to see it here, since you didn't come in here… did you?"

"No, I summoned it here," he stated blandly.

After making sure the guord was secured to him, he stepped outside of the room and turned around to face her, noticing that Raxiel wasn't so tense anymore.

Seeing that he was a bit depressed, Raxiel smiled, trying to cheer him up. "Hey, why don't you get a room, too. You look drained." Gaara looked down, and knowing she had said something wrong, Raxiel's smile soon faded. "Oh no, what did I say?"

"It's not your fault…" He looked up and made eye contact with her. "I'm sure you've noticed the dark circles around my eyes, haven't you?"

"Well…yes," she said hesitantly.

"…They're there because I can't sleep. At least, not yet can I sleep."

"What do you mean?" Raxiel asked curiously.

"When Shukaku lived inside me, I wasn't allowed to sleep due to the fact that if I did, Shukaku would eat away at my personality."

"Wait. Shukaku doesn't like inside you anymore?" she asked a little bewildered.

"No, it doesn't. Around a year ago, an organization by the name of Akatsuki was onto me, trying to kidnap me and kill me to take Shukaku out of my body. They succeeded in capturing me, and they did kill me. The demon inside me was taken out, and I was dead for a short while. Then, a special person with a unique gift found me and revived me. I no longer have the demon inside me, but I can still control my sand."

Raxiel smiled at him. "Wow! That's great! I'm so happy for you! So then why don't you sleep?"

"It's hard for me. The past sixteen years, I've never slept, and I've unfortunately become an insomniac. That's why I have these dark, probably permanent circles around my eyes."

"Well, you should at least try to sometime," Raxiel said encouragingly. Gaara felt a smirk creeping up his lips, and Raxiel soon saw it and smiled back.

"You know, you really should smile more often."

"Huh?" Gaara mumbled in confusion. "Why?" His half-smile soon left.

"Because when you do, it makes the atmosphere around you more pleasant. Well, at least, that's what your smile does to me," Raxiel admitted embarrassingly.

"Hmph. That's childish," he said bluntly.

"Oh no, no, it's not!" Raxiel said defensively. "If you smile, it makes you feel better. It makes the people around you happier, as well." Gaara looked away, and Raxiel could sense pain inside him. She soon gave him a concerned smile and took a step closer to him.

Gaara was trying to ignore her when he soon felt something grab his shoulder gently. Gaara turned his head to face Raxiel again and saw her hand on his shoulder. Her concerned smile bit through him and sliced him inside deeply. Raxiel leaned closer to him and quietly began to speak to him. "I know you've had a hard past, and you haven't gotten to smile a lot. But I'm saying this to you as a friend: your happiness, your smile is what makes me keep smiling."

Gaara's eyes shot wide open.

"When I had first gotten here, my mind was caught in a depressed state. I was only thinking about the bad things in life, but when you showed up, and you smiled at me for the first time, it suddenly woke me up to the happier things in life. It's helped me through a tough time I had. For that, I thank you."

Raxiel took her hand off him, and Gaara's eyes were still trying to stop dancing from the surprising statement she just gave him.

Raxiel broke the silence though. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked nonchalantly as she started to walk into her room.

Gaara was quick about shaking off his shock and replied, "If you want. I have to sign the rest of the paper-work at the Hokage's Office," he said as bluntly as he could.

"Hey! When you're done with that, just come over here. We can get lunch or something, and you can tell me what Suna is really like," Raxiel said cheerfully.

Gaara agreed with a quick nod, and Raxiel smiled with contentment. "Um… Thanks for buying dinner. It was nice."

"She means horrible," he thought as he nodded again, acknowledging he had heard her. "Get some rest," Gaara said as he slowly walked away.

And they left it just like that.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

"What things that he bought for me are 'necessary'?" Raxiel said to herself out loud in her hotel room as she was going through her 'temporary' closet. She wasn't exactly sure what things she really needed to bring with her to Sunagakure and which things to leave.

"Why does this have to be so hard?" she said now getting frustrated. Finally having spent two hours staring at her closet not knowing what to take, she quickly paced around her room in search for a big bag. When she had found one that she thought was the right size, she tossed it over to the closet and started to dig through her closet.

"I'll fill up the bag, and once it can't carry anymore, I'll be done packing."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Curse these mosquitoes!" Gaara thought to himself as he was making his way towards the hotel. He had finally finished all of the paper-work and now had a full day of freedom to himself…

Well, not to himself…

Trying to get his mind off of the annoying humming objects that were next to his ears, his thoughts soon traced back to what had happened the other night. What Raxiel had said to him last night had stayed with him. Those few words she had whispered…

_"Your happiness, your smile is what keeps me smiling."_

"How can I make someone smile?" he thought. "All these years, I've only been a monster. Have I changed that much in only a year's time?"

As he continued walking, he started to "play" with some of his sand, forming it into a rose. Looking at it with a saddened face, he knew he had been hiding something…

Hiding something from himself…

"Her smile keeps me going…"

He didn't want to admit it, but he knew it was true. The only way he had gotten a chance at becoming her friend was because every time she smiled at him, she pushed herself deeper and deeper into his heart, making him open up without even second-guessing if she was trust-worthy or not.

He'd never met anyone like her…

He knew she was one-of-a-kind…

"I can't keep letting those thoughts keep running through my head. We're friends and only friends. I have to leave it at that, or else she might hate me for the rest of my time together with her," he thought.

So he closed those thoughts…

Shut them out of his head (or at least, he thought he had). And he vowed to be only a friend unless she wanted something otherwise.

As he neared the hotel and looked up to see the huge building, something soon caught his attention.

A man…

Dressed in black with his face hidden…

"Is he looking at Raxiel's window?" he thought soon becoming concerned.

When the man finally looked away from the window and out towards Gaara, Gaara stopped walking. Eye contact was the only thing they shared. After a few minutes of staring at each other, the man slowly turned around and walked away.

Gaara did not want to see that man again…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Okay! I guess I'm ready!" Raxiel said enthusiastically. She looked down at her bag to see her clothes neatly folded in it all the way to the top. She was quite satisfied with what she had gotten. Although it wasn't much, she knew it was just right and left it at that.

Once she had zipped up the bag and tossed it on her bed, she looked around the hotel room to take a good glance at it. A whole week she had been living in this one small room, and she was glad to be getting out of it to have a place to herself: her own apartment.

That's what she hoped, at least…

"Anything is probably better than this small place," she thought.

As she turned around to shut the window she had opened up due to the rare cool weather they had received that morning, she noticed something on the sill. Once she had made it to the window, she finally realized what it was. When she picked it up, sharp thorns poking at her fingers, she held it up to her nose to smell the beautiful, flawless, red rose.

"I guess Gaara is close," she thought as she walked over to her night stand to put it in her white vase that held the other fake rose he had given her. As soon as she slid the other rose into the vase, she heard a knock at her door. Going over to the door she quietly laughed. "I guess I was right."

Once she had opened the door to see Gaara looking down at the tacky carpet, he looked up at her with a serious face not wanting to say anything. Raxiel smiled cheerfully. "Hey, Gaara. Are you all done with your work?"

"…Yeah."

"Oh, well, that's good."

A long silence was held between the two. Finally, Gaara spoke, his voice demanding. "We're going out for lunch. Hurry up and get ready."

"Oh, okay. It won't take me too long. I guess you could come in for a minute." Raxiel opened the door a little wider and moved to the side, giving Gaara room to walk inside. As he entered into the main part of her room, Raxiel shut the door and walked over beside him.

"Just give me a minute," Raxiel stated as she walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

Gaara didn't even notice her leave because he was busy looking around, examining the room. With almost everything in her bag, Gaara noticed that the space was clean and precise. Even her bed was made, comforter as smooth as could be.

But very quickly his eyes caught onto something else…

Something red…

Gaara slowly walked to her nightstand next to her bed to see a white vase on top of the table. In it were his rose he had given her yesterday…

And something else…

Gaara gently seized the red rose that was in the vase, as well. "Who gave her this?" he thought as he was closely looking at the rose.

Just about the same time, Raxiel came out smiling her usual smile. She soon noticed what Gaara had in his hand and walked over to him.

"By the way, I should thank you for that rose," she said looking at the same rose that Gaara was holding.

"What?" Gaara gave her a confused face.

"Actually, I should thank you for both roses. They're both nice."

"…Raxiel, I never gave you this rose," Gaara said, holding the real rose higher.

Raxiel's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, you didn't…" She looked over at the rose made out of sand, the one that Gaara actually gave her.

"No, I didn't," he replied sharply. "Where'd you get it?"

"It was on my window sill. I thought you had put it there…"

"Hmm…" Gaara set the rose down on the stand, and Raxiel could tell that Gaara was upset. Quickly she smiled at him and came closer to him. "Hey, don't worry. I bet it was just a mistake. Someone put it there accidentally. I'll just put it on the window sill where I found it, and once we get back, I'm sure it'll be gone."

Gaara watched as Raxiel reached across him to pick up the red perfection. "You don't have to –"

"No, Gaara," she interrupted. "That's okay. Besides, I can't take this if I don't know where it came from."

She swiftly put the rose back on the sill, and as she did, Gaara noticed the bag that was next to the window. Raxiel soon looked at him and caught onto where his attention was focused. She smiled. "I'm all packed up. I guess you could tell."

"Yeah. That's good," he said blandly. "Anyways, let's get going."

"Oh, right," she agreed.

Gaara quickly walked towards the door and opened it. Raxiel slowly followed him out of the room and shut the door behind her.

Those feelings of love can never be buried…

They'll never leave you alone…

Jealousy…


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

"Tell me," Raxiel said as Gaara set their food down at the table and sat down in the chair across from her in the diner, "if you're the Kazekage of your country, wouldn't the townspeople want you to take a body guard or somebody else, in case of an emergency?"

Gaara glanced at her calmly. "Some of them have suggested that."

"And the others?" Raxiel asked curiously.

"Either they think I can take care of myself, or they want me to die."

"To die! Why?"

Gaara shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Revenge maybe, since I did kill others in my village when I was younger."

"Oh…"

"There is only a few that way though. Most of them have put behind the past."

"Well, that's good," Raxiel said looking downwards at her plate.

"He must have it rough," she thought to herself. "It'd be best if I changed the subject."

She shifted her eyes to Gaara again. He was eating his salad that he had ordered, and he seemed dissatisfied with it. Raxiel thought that now would be the perfect time for her to make conversation with him again. "So, is Suna big?" she asked curiously, now playing with her salad to see exactly what was all in it besides lettuce.

Gaara glanced up at her. "It basically covers a desert."

Raxiel's eyes widened with astonishment. "Really! A desert? Wow! How amusing."

Noticing her excitement and not wanting to take it away, he continued, "It's very dry, hot and windy. Sandstorms are something that happen almost every day."

"Sounds like a desert. What are the houses like there?"

"They're made of hardened sand. Anything else, and it would fill up with sand or be destroyed."

"Hmm… Is it crowded?" Raxiel asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Not particularly." He started to pick at his food again, and Raxiel started to do the same thing.

"Something's on his mind," she thought, trying to figure out why he wouldn't eat any of his food.

And Raxiel was correct…

Gaara was thinking about how that man next to Raxiel's room was staring at her window.

"Raxiel?"

Surprised to hear his voice after the long silence, Raxiel dropped her fork. "Yeah, Gaara?"

"Are you sure nothing happened with you while I was gone?"

Raxiel's eyes shot wide open. She kept her eyes down at her salad to make sure he couldn't catch onto her surprised face.

Suddenly, that salad didn't look so tasty as before…

"No, Gaara. Nothing else happened besides the cat in the tree. Why do you ask?"

"You had mentioned Orochimaru's gang, and I was wondering how you knew about them."

Raxiel knew she was trapped unless she had another brilliant idea…

Soon it hit her…

A flashback…

_"There is just one thing I will ask of you. You mention to no one that you saw me. If you do, I will kill you."_

_"What's this about being doomed?"_

Eureka!

Iruka!

"It's worth a shot," she thought, now having enough courage to look up at him. "When I was talking to Iruka, he started telling me about them. That's all," she stated innocently.

Gaara shot her a surprised stare. "Have you met anyone else besides Iruka and I?"

Raxiel's eyes started dancing, searching for an answer she could give him. Once an idea appeared in her head, she chuckled a little. "You're forgetting Naruto and the cat lady," she mumbled a little sarcastically.

"No one else? Not another man?" he said coldly.

Raxiel noticed his cold stare he was giving her. Picking up her fork to take another bite of her unwanted salad, she made it an excuse to look down at the plate.

"…No, Gaara, I haven't."

Gaara studied her for a minute, making sure she was telling the truth. Soon accepting her story, he began to eat like Raxiel was.

"It must have been a mistake," he thought, taking a bite of his salad.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Where to next!" Raxiel shouted cheerfully as they walked out of the diner and out into the streets.

Gaara looked around the noisy town with a displeased look. "Not here. Let's go some place else."

Soon Gaara and Raxiel were out of the town, now enjoying the quietness.

But Gaara could sense something was wrong…

Just at that moment, a ninja appeared in front of them. To Raxiel's own surprise, she helplessly shrieked that it even surprised Gaara. Again, he stepped in front of her.

The man quickly began to speak. "Sorry to bother you, but your presence is requested at the Hokage's Office. It's an emergency."

Gaara's eyes shot wide open. "I'll be there as soon as I can," he said, regaining his composure. Soon the ninja left and all that was left were Gaara, Raxiel, and the nature around them.

Gaara turned around the face Raxiel, his face full of seriousness. "Raxiel, I want you back in your room. I'll come get you when I'm done."

Raxiel looked at him with disbelief. "What! I can't just wait for you outside -?"

"No, Raxiel. Hurry back to the hotel, I mean it."

Raxiel knew…

Raxiel knew he meant it…

As Gaara started to gather energy – or in a word that Raxiel would not know, chakra- into his feet, he disappeared, leaving her alone.

So, Raxiel had the "wonderful" job of going back into her room and staying there, once again.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"I think he ditched me," Raxiel thought, now bored of staring at the ceiling from her bed. An hour had passed since she had seen Gaara, and she was bored and impatient, ready for anything or anybody to come get her and take her some place besides this boring hotel.

"An hour and one minute!" Raxiel yelled out loud. She had been counting time since she had gotten into the room. "What could they be talking about for an hour and one minute?"

"We were talking about Suna," a voice said to her from her windowsill.

Raxiel sat up quickly and saw Gaara sitting on the sill, looking at her nonchalantly. "About time!" Raxiel said, impatiently. "What was the emergency?"

"…Orochimaru's gang. They're heading for Sunagakure."

Raxiel's eyes widened. "What?"

"It seems they're in search for more power than what they already have. Konoha has already warned Suna, but I need to get back there as soon as possible."

"Yeah, of course," Raxiel said abruptly.

Gaara stood up from the sill. "You, on the other hand, will be staying here."

Once again, Raxiel shot him a look of disbelief. "What! Why! Come on! You know I told you I'm a good fighter!"

"…Raxiel, -"

"Come on, Gaara! Let me go with you! I want to help you."

Gaara started to walk over to Raxiel who was only sitting up in her bed. He watched her eyes as they were dancing all around, moving across his face as if she could find a good explanation painted on his face.

"It would help me much if I knew you were here safe. I need you here. Do this for me, as a friend."

"Gaara, I want to fight, too."

"I know, but these ninja aren't small fry. They're much too powerful. Even for me to take on all of them would be committing suicide. When it's not so dangerous anymore, I'll send someone for you. I don't think it will take long, either."

"But –"

This time, Gaara glared at her. It was a deep, angry glare that Raxiel had never seen from him. "You just don't get it, do you? You don't know how much I want you safe, do you! Just like my smile makes you smile, your smile keeps me going. I don't want to lose it," Gaara snapped.

Raxiel shut up, this time, in complete shock.

Gaara knew all too well that he had said too much.

He cursed at himself…

"I'll come back for you as soon as I can. You will stay here."

"Why did I just say that?" Gaara thought. Swiftly Gaara left, leaving Raxiel flabbergasted.

What they didn't know was that someone had been listening in on them…

Red…


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:

"Who does he think he is! He can't just boss me around!"

Raxiel knew she was lying to herself…

When she had finally snapped out of her shock, she soon became livid, punching her pillow and cursing to herself for not chasing after him. After a few minutes of doing this, she had finally decided to try to calm herself down by making diner…

Obviously, it wasn't working…

"Well," she told herself, "he said to stay, but her never said I had to stay in here…"

Lies…

Cracking an egg into a bowl, she heard the wind begin to blow harder and harder.

"Maybe I can get Iruka to help me train a little…"

As she began to whisk the egg violently, she heard thunder begin to roar. Raxiel quickly looked outside to see the dark, turbid clouds covering the sky, making it look pitch black.

But something else caught her attention…

Red…

Red eyes staring at her from in a tree…

"Those look familiar…" she thought to herself, trying to remember where she had seen them while she closed her broken window with the curtains, not wanting any rain to come in.

As she made her way back to the table with her whisked egg, she soon remembered whose eyes she'd just seen…

Itachi…

Quickly, she ran over to the window and snapped open the curtains to see if he was still there.

Nothing…

"What's he doing here?" she thought, this time wanting to see what was going on outside for real.

But when she saw lightning strike, she closed the curtains and let that thought fade.

"At least until the lightning dies down…" she thought.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"It's too bad I didn't bring an umbrella…" Raxiel thought as she made her way outside of the hotel and slowly into the darkened forest. Her boots that were already heavy by themselves were soon covered with thick, heavy mud, making her unstable every time she took a step.

"I wonder what time it really is…"

Finally making it to the end of the forest without any trace of "Red Eyes," she closely examined the open plain that was right in front of her.

"There's no way he'd be here…"

Soon she heard something…

Something clanging together…

A noise in the mountains…

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that sooner?" Raxiel said, now walking as fast as she could to the road…

The road that lead to the mountains…

The closer she got to the mountains, the louder the noises she heard became. Soon, she could recognize what the noises were.

Blades…

Weapons…

Someone was fighting, and she was sure who one of them was.

A shouting voice was heard. "What do you want here? We won once, and now we're going to do it again!" an angry voice said.

"When the time comes, you will know. Right now, I have no want to tell you," a familiar voice said.

"Is that right? Well then, I guess I can't let you pass. Someone's gonna die here, right now, and it's not going to be me."

Raxiel peaked over the rock she was hiding behind. Sure enough, it was Itachi. He was there with some other ninja from Konoha.

They both seemed displeased with one another…

The ninja took out a kunai and was ready to attack again; while Itachi, on the other hand, only stared at him with a calm and unemotional face.

Raxiel was certain that someone was going to die…

And it wasn't Itachi…

In the blink of an eye, the other ninja dropped his just-drawn kunai and fell to his knees. His eyes were white, and his face was pale.

Dead…

Raxiel slid back down to be completely covered behind the rock. The shock of seeing something so horrifying had made her too scared to want to come out and talk to him.

Raxiel closed her eyes and breathed hard yet silently, waiting for him to walk away. She waited for what seemed like hours for him to leave.

But he didn't…

"…Come out, kunoichi," a voice said unemotionally.

Raxiel eyes opened in shock and confusion.

That wasn't fair…

Silence…

"Kunoichi, if you don't come over here, you'll be struck by lightning."

"Like you'd know!" Raxiel accidentally shouted at him sarcastically.

"If you don't, then you coming up to see me would all be in vain," once again, he spoke callously.

Raxiel knew he had stolen those words form her. Now having nothing better to do, Raxiel stood up slowly, regaining feeling in her legs and turned to face Red Eyes.

"If we're going to be talking about someone being "in vain," then I suggest we should start with you," Raxiel stated.

"Really? And why so?"

"You were the one staring through my broken window, weren't you? Why? Was there any point to do that?"

"It was personal gain," he said coldly, "and curiosity as to if you'd see me or not, and, if you did, if you'd want to see me again."

"Personal gain, huh? You know that most of the personal gain people get is really pointless?" she asked sharply, not liking his attitude.

"It's the way of a renegade. You live for personal gain. Now, move away from there, or you might not have any more personal gain to give."

Raxiel did as she was told.

Not because he had ordered her to…

Not because she was scared…

But because if she didn't move, her boots would get stuck in the mud beneath her…

As she inched her way towards him, she caught his red eyes watching her. "Is that really the reason why you came to the hotel? Just for personal pleasure? If so, you're not the person whom I thought you were. More of a real dunce, the way I see it."

Suddenly, lightning struck the exact spot where Raxiel was sitting beforehand. Raxiel's eyes widened.

Silence…

Itachi took a few steps towards her and shifted his weight onto his other leg. "Tell me, kunoichi, what kind of a person did you think I was?"

"Even if I was to tell you, what would happen?" she asked quietly, looking down at the ground

Becoming tired of her attitude, Itachi raised his voice louder just to get her full attention. "Answer the question."

Raxiel finally glanced up at his eyes, giving them a staring contest.

"Alright. I'll tell you what I thought about you. I thought you were a powerful, smart renegade who was the kind that you didn't want to get around. The kind who thinks they control the whole world and own everything. Well, I've seen you. I've seen you "fight," and I've heard you talk, but I'm not impressed. Any dunce could take a person out mentally, but physically, that's where I think you're scared. Never once have I seen you actually fight. You've got big words, that's for sure, but it would seem that all you do is just lie. Therefore, you're a weakling, physically and mentally. You lie with words, and run away from fights. Make sense?"

Oblivious…

The rain grew thicker, making it impossible for Raxiel to see Red Eyes.

But she could hear his footsteps…

And she could feel his hand grasp her arm tightly.

"Not a word, Raxiel," he hissed.

Her eyes widened.

Raxiel…

She looked down and laughed lightly. "Then I guess what I just said was in vain."

"Precisely."

Ignorance…


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

"What a mess…"

Gaara stepped into his hometown to see what was left of it. Apparently, Orochimaru's group had arrived before he had.

He was late, and he knew it…

He knew it would take longer than what he had thought.

He started to sniff the air and finally figured out what the stench was.

Blood…

Casualties…

"How many died?" he wondered. "And where is everybody now?"

As Gaara began to walk further into his village, he knew it would take a lot longer. A great was would be raging soon…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Look, Red Eyes, I should be going back now."

The great fire that Itachi had made in the cave was starting to become more of a hazard each second as it grew bigger and bigger. It had been at least an hour that Raxiel had been sitting there, watching him make the fire and once he had, only to sit there and stare at it.

No conversation…

No nothing…

And she was getting very impatient. "Besides, won't your friend come back?"

Still no words from him…

All was silent except the sound of the fire crackling.

Raxiel sighed with sadness. She quickly stood up and started to exit the cave.

But she felt something…

Eyes were following her…

Raxiel turned around to catch a glimpse of him for a minute. He soon returned his focus to the fire. "He's not my friend. I have no friends," he stated.

"Gee, I wonder why," Raxiel thought to herself sarcastically. Knowing that he was willing to speak to her, she soon returned to her place by the fire and sat down. "Is there a reason why you brought me here?" Raxiel asked, annoyed with the crackling caused by the fire.

"Because if you had gone out there, you'd be dead in a few minutes…"

Raxiel gave him a confused look, and then it happened again…

Silence…

Red Eyes looked up at her. "It's about to hail."

Raxiel pressed her lips into the shape of an "O." Soon she was mesmerized by the fire, just like Itachi was. They continued to stare at it, not one of them making a sound.

Then it happened…

…

BOOM!

All hell broke loose as hail fell down, and Raxiel jumped from the unexpected noise. Regaining her composure quickly, she looked towards the exit to watch the hail fall, and quietly began to laugh.

Red Eyes looked up at her. "Funny?"

"That's three times you've saved my life. You're definitely not the type of renegade I thought you were."

"You'd rather me kill you?"

"I didn't say that, but what keeps you from killing me?" she asked openly with curiosity.

Itachi put his eyes back on the fire.

"Amaya."

"Huh?"

"You remind me of someone."

"Oh." Not wanting the conversation to end, Raxiel continued questioning him. "Was that her name?"

"Yeah. She used to be my friend, when I was a little younger than you. She died from a sickness."

"Oh, I see. So is that why you're a renegade? You're bitter?"

"Partly…"

"Hmm… Was she a kunoichi?"

"Drop it. I don't want to talk about it," he said sharply.

"Sorry," she said quietly.

"Sheesh, I'm going to be stuck here all night again," she thought. Soon Raxiel stood up and walked over to the wall of the cave. There she sat down and started trying to untie her heavy, dirty boots. She could feel sweat dripping off her face.

"Well, Red Eyes, are you happy now?" she said, finally giving up untying her boots due to lack of determination.

Itachi looked up and stared at her. Noticing she had caught his attention, she spoke, once again. "You got me to follow you to the mountains; you even got me to come with you to this cave. All that you wanted tonight came true for you; so now what?"

"Are you making fun of me?" he said impassively.

"No, I'm simply saying that you got what you wanted. Are you happy?"

"…Kunoichi, there is nothing that can make me happy," he said blandly.

Raxiel rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. That is what people think, but you know it's just a big lie."

"A lie? Tell me something then, kunoichi," he snapped, "Is it a lie that I massacred my whole clan only to leave two alive? Is it a lie that I joined Akatsuki for personal gain? Is it a lie that the only person capable of killing me is my brother? So is it really a lie to say that nothing can make me happy?"

Raxiel's eyes were widened, as far as they could be.

A murderer…

She was soon thrown out of her mesmerization by someone lifting her upwards and slamming her into the cave's wall.

"Give me one good reason about why I should be happy, Raxiel."

Now she was regretting the choice not having left sooner…

Red Eyes stepped closer to her. She knew he was impatient for an answer, and she was choking from the grip he had on her throat. "Well, I don't think slamming someone into a wall will make you happy." Itachi's grip tightened, his face drawing closer to Raxiel's.

Raxiel began to think quickly. "Firstly, can I ask you why you even killed your clan in the first place?"

"No, you can't," he snapped.

"Then I can't help you," she managed to say swiftly. Itachi's anger was beginning to rise. "But if you're thinking about killing me, Red Eyes, let me say something that "might" help. The more you kill, the more the pain inside you will hurt. Don't think that someday that pain will go away, because it never will. But as you begin to kill more, you'll start to feel even more pain. That's the simplest truth I can give you."

"Tell me then, kunoichi, what makes it ease?"

Raxiel thought for a minute before she blurted something out. After all, she didn't want to blurt out the wrong thing, especially the situation in which she was. "Most people think love will do it. I can guarantee it will help, but it won't last long."

"That's a first step, isn't it?"

"…Um – Well –"

Raxiel could sense that Red Eyes was getting closer to her…

Unfortunately, she had blurted out the wrong words…

She swallowed harshly…

"Not really," she finally said.

"Tell me, kunoichi. This Kazekage or whomever you were speaking to, do you love him? Is that why you smile so much at him and not at me?"

Raxiel's eyes widened more than what they already were. "Love is more than just smiling at someone, you know? Besides, we're just friends. You, on the other hand, are a murderer. So answer me this, Red Eyes: am I supposed to smile at you, a renegade?"

His hand jerked her into the wall again. "I could make you smile, if you'd like me to," he whispered into her ear.

Noticing the sudden change in his voice, Raxiel quickly started to get even more uneasy.

His body was very close…

Raxiel looked straight into his eyes. "Personal gain, you mean?"

No response…

"You know what I'd say to that," Raxiel said. She knew that at any moment, he could have his way with her, and she would not be able to do anything about it.

Obliviousness turned into sudden alertness…

Alertness turned into sudden fearfulness…

"It might make me smile, as well." Gently, he pushed himself against her.

Raxiel soon glared at him coldly. "Itachi, I'd rather you kill me than you receive any more personal gain from me."

Fearfulness… changed into audaciousness?

His grip relaxed…

His breathing harshly on her face soon faded…

And soon he had let go and retreated to the fire.

"Amaya…" he quietly spoke, once again; his attitude had changed from anger to nothingness. Raxiel looked out towards the exit to see the hail had stopped. The only gloomy thing still out there were the dark clouds hovering over the sky due to it being nighttime.

"I'm leaving now," Raxiel said calmly, and Red Eyes simply nodded.

And with that, Raxiel left, not even wanting to look back at him.

She was afraid she could do nothing to help him…


	20. Chapter 19

Author's Note:

Before you begin reading the next chapter, I would just like to say something so you won't get confused. A few months have passed in the story; therefore, the characters are a little older. I didn't want anyone to think that the next chapter just happened the day after the last chapter.

Once again, thank you for the reviews. The more reviews I get, the more it motivates me to type up chapters quicker (doesn't it with everyone?). I'm having so much fun with this story because I've got so many ideas floating through my head on what to do next with it. I just hope I can make the end turn out as well as the beginning.

Anyways, I'll let you get on with the next chapter. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 19:

"Come on, Raxiel! You will not drown!"

The sunlight that hit her face was making Raxiel sweat even more than she already was. The water that was so tempting for Raxiel to dive into was making loud splashing noises as Iruka was swimming in it.

It seemed pleasing…

"But, Iruka, you don't understand! I haven't "swam" in at least five years, and I certainly cannot tread water for as long as you say," Raxiel said persistently. Sure, she trusted Iruka since they had been working together for the past four months. They had been working on getting Raxiel ready to pass the Chunin Exam (which Iruka was working on to give Raxiel her own personal exam from the Hokage). So far, she had passed every course that Iruka gave her with flying colors, but since she didn't know how to tread water for ten minutes, this was the one exercise that they had been working on the most. Raxiel had to admit that Iruka had been a great teacher all the way through her training from just a student up to a Genin.

But treading water…

That was a different story.

Standing up straight from swimming in the water, Iruka finally glanced at her. "Last time we did this, you were at seven minutes," he encouragingly said.

Raxiel choked. "Yes, and last time we did this, I almost drowned. Do you not think I wouldn't remember that?"

Iruka sighed. "Raxiel, there's nothing to be worried about. Last time, I was out of the water, and this time, I'll be in the water beside you. Come on; you've got nothing to lose."

Raxiel sighed. She knew he was right, and she had no other choice but to go through with it.

Failure was not an option to her…

Iruka smiled pleasantly as he saw her step precariously into the cold yet pleasant water. Shivers went up her spine as Raxiel felt the cold water in contact with her skin.

"Alright, now just step into the deep end of the spring, and I can start timing you. If you feel like you can't do it any longer, just tell me, and I'll stop timing."

Raxiel nodded in understanding.

She knew this wasn't going to go well…

Thoughts began to fill her head as she stepped off into the deep end of the spring…

Their spring, his and hers…

It had been four long months since she had seen him. Knowing that something was wrong, she really had the urge to ask someone… anyone how to get to Sunagakure, but every time she tried, her confidence was lost. She had heard a few weeks after he had left that a massive war had started, and now she had heard that it was just about finished…

But he hadn't even sent her a letter.

He hadn't told her if he was still alive or not.

"What if he doesn't even remember me?" she thought. The depressing thoughts of him and her falling apart began to enter her mind…

That's when she heard it…

Iruka's voice…

"That's five minutes, Raxiel! Half way done!"

With her eyes closed and her mind wandering off, she had fallen into her own world…

"Where is he? What if he's… dead?"

Until something hit her…

Something painful…

"Stomach cramp!" she thought as she jerked her legs forwards, making her body sink down into the water. Her arms encircled her stomach, hoping to soothe her pain from the cramp, and quickly she realized she couldn't breathe.

Especially since she was under water…

Just then, two strong arms encircled her waist, pulling her towards the shallow side of the spring. Her head rose above the water, making it "easier" for her to breathe. As she started to gasp for air, she finally remembered whose arms had caught her just in time.

"You okay? Take it easy."

Her eyes finally opened, looking upwards to see Iruka's eyes that were gazing at her with concernment. She had only seen them with that much concernment twice. Once, when she was deathly sick about two months ago and he came to see her, and the other time, was here, last week, when the same thing happened.

Iruka and her had become closer friends due to her training with him almost every day. They had grown a personal bond together, and Raxiel was grateful for him to allow her to hang around with him and train. His friendly attitude had caused Raxiel to sometimes forget the memories of Gaara, making her less anxious.

Sometimes…

Raxiel started to cough up more water. The cramp was almost gone, but she knew she'd be very weak for the rest of the evening.

"Darn it! I hate swimming!" Raxiel thought to herself, her mind now beginning to snap back to reality. She suddenly noticed that her hands were gripping Iruka's arms harshly. She swiftly let go of them, thinking the water was shallow enough for her short figure compared to Iruka's to rest her feet on the bottom.

Of course, she thought wrong…

"Whoa! Whoa! The water isn't that shallow. Just hold onto me."

Raxiel noticed his hands gripping her arms. With her mind now back on reality, she finally popped the question. "Iruka, how long did I stay out there?"

Iruka smiled. "Ten minutes exact. Congratulations! You're ready for the final test. Pass it, and you will become a Chunin."

Raxiel soon had a smile on her face, as well. "Just one more test," she thought, now feeling her body wanting to cough again, and she allowed it.

"Stand on my feet. It'll give you something to stand on," Iruka said kindly, and gratefully, Raxiel did.

But suddenly, Raxiel wasn't so comfortable anymore…

Raxiel looked up at Iruka to see that he was already staring at her peacefully, their bodies, way too close for Raxiel's personal space. And she noticed that Iruka's eyes were different.

"Is that… lust I see in his eyes?" she thought, somewhat shocked by what she had just thought. She knew Iruka, and she knew him well enough to know that he was a nice, polite guy. She was sure he wouldn't have… -

Suddenly, she felt something…

Something soft…

Before she knew it, Iruka's lips were pressed softly against hers...

…!

Raxiel's eyes widened with shock. "What the heck is he doing!" she thought. Sure, she and Iruka were close friends…

But this close…?

What Raxiel thought was only a friendship was soon turning into something complicating…

And it didn't feel right.

"It's got to be a mistake!" she thought, trying to calm herself down.

But soon what she thought was a mistake he'd made turned out to be the exact opposite…

Raxiel could feel his tongue brushing against her bottom lip, asking for an entrance.

And it was then that Raxiel knew she had to get away…

Far, far away…

Swiftly, her arms pushed downwards, releasing her from his grasp and pulling her under water.

And she swam…

She swam away from him.

Finally getting to the shallow end, she came up and turned to face him. "What was that?" Raxiel said loudly.

Iruka gave her a hesitant gaze. "Raxiel, I –"

"No, I don't want to know. I'm going now," she said, knowing that tears were swelling up in her eyes and not wanting him to see them.

"Raxiel –"

She'd seen and heard enough from him.

With the hotel in sight from her running a half-mile, she quickly went inside and charged into her room.

No looking back…

Red…

Hurt…


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

"You requested me, Hokage?" a blonde-haired, blue-eyed teen by the name of Naruto said.

A chair turned in the direction of Naruto with a blonde-haired woman sitting in it. "Please, call me Tsunade."

"Alright then, Tsunade. What do I owe the pleasure of getting a call from you?"

"I have a mission for you, an A-rank mission."

"Alright! Bring it on!" the blonde-haired cheerfully stated.

"Hold it, Naruto. I'm not just going to give it to you. You'll need a teammate, first, to go with you."

Naruto's smile soon faded. "Oh, but, Tsunade, Sakura's gone on another mission."

"Yes, your old teammate did go on another mission. That's why I want you to go out there and find another kunoichi to be your teammate for this mission."

Suddenly, a knock on the office door was heard.

"Who is it?" the blonde-haired woman shouted roughly.

"It's Iruka. I have some business to go over with you."

"Fine, come in."

As the door opened, there stood Iruka walking in with papers that seemed important. Naruto began to look at them curiously.

"Excuse me for interrupting, but that new kunoichi I talked to you about, Raxiel, well, she's ready to test at the Chunin Exams. Here's her paperwork. I'll leave it here for you to make your decision." Once Iruka had set the paperwork down on the desk, he casually walked out. He knew it'd probably be best for her to be left alone.

As Tsunade picked up the papers and began to look through them, Naruto held a conversation. "It has to be a kunoichi?"

"Yes," Tsunade mumbled, soon caught up in the paperwork she was looking at.

"Why?"

"I'll go over the details, once you get her."

"Why chose me then, since I don't have a teammate?" Naruto asked. He knew if he kept this up, soon he'd have Tsunade's full attention.

"Because the job I have for you is just your type," she smirked.

"Okay…" Naruto said dumbfounded about what he should say next.

Soon she banged her hand on the desk and looked directly at Naruto who had jumped a little from the surprised noise.

"And, Naruto, I think I've found you the perfect kunoichi…"

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Raxiel lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling. It was way past midnight, and she still could not go to sleep. Thoughts kept filling her head…

Thoughts about how her first kiss was stolen…

Stolen by a friend…

She remembered how the sensational feeling of his lips pressed against hers was and how she wanted it to last longer…

But she knew…

She knew that kiss was wrong. And that's why she knew she had to break it.

She wondered if their friendship would ever return…

Raxiel turned over to her side and glanced at the bouquet of flowers Iruka had given her two weeks ago for her seventeenth birthday, one of the few things she remembered about herself.

That was the day when she had been thinking about him.

Thinking about the Kazekage too much…

She missed him. It was strange how she had gotten so close to him in only about a weeks worth. She remembered when she had first saw him and how his eyes were so tense and serious.

She wondered if he looked the same…

Maybe he'd changed…

No, he couldn't have. Not as stubborn as he was…

Her eyes glanced back at the bouquet, soon bringing back that day. Iruka and Naruto had come to take her out to get ramen for her birthday. She could never repay them for that night.

That was the night when all of her memories were forgotten…

"Gaara, what are you doing now?" she thought. "What are you thinking about right now?"

Pretty soon, her mind drifted off, and she fell into a peaceful sleep.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

The moon's light spread out throughout the now-cool desert, making the sand look blue…

Water…

_"If I'm water, then I'm all over her… I'm in her…"_

The redheaded Kazekage sighed, depressed as he looked out the small window and out towards the moon. For nights he had not been able to go out of the small room due to the fact that it was too dangerous, especially since he was the Kazekage. The war had been long, but he knew they were slowly winning. Orochimaru's crowd grew less and less every day, and somehow from looking outside the only window in the small room for weeks, he could tell.

Gaara's mind though was not on the war that he was in the middle of winning…

He was concentrated on the full moon that he could see up in the sky.

Having to be in this room for endless nights, he was very bored, especially when he did not have to give out orders to the ninjas that were fighting the battles for him.

Every night when he looked up at the moon…

The cursed moon…

That cursed moon would remind him of that cursed statement that the cursed girl had said…

Her words…

_"Hey, have you ever seen of the man on the moon?"_

For nights, he'd been staring out his window, his eyes fixed on the moon…

He'd been trying to find that man…

It had made him so frustrated that he hadn't been able to see it. After all, he'd been trying to find it the past few weeks…

Perhaps he was looking for the wrong face…

Gaara closed his eyes for a minute…

He could almost see her face…

The cursed face that stayed with him wherever he went…

The cursed face… he had quickly grown to… like…?

_"You know what that means?"_

Laughter…

_"It means we have no imagination."_

He opened his eyes and, once again, searched for the face…

Her face…

And soon he caught onto something…

A smile…

He smirked. "Don't you dare tell me, Raxiel, that I don't have an imagination."

Imagination…

The imagination that sometimes took him too far…

Desperately wanting her…

After all, she was basically his…

Yes, that imagination…

That cursed imagination he had…

And he knew it…

He needed more self-control…

He knew it…

Those feelings of love can never be buried…

They'll never leave you alone…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"If breakfast is the most important meal, how come every time I try to eat it, it makes me sick?" Raxiel was looking at the bowl of cereal she had pored herself for breakfast. Sure, she loved cereal, but not at eight o'clock in the morning. Sighing loudly to herself, she picked the bowl up and stood up to go clean it in the sink. While she was washing the bowl though, a knock came from her door. Raxiel dropped the bowl and her eyes widened. "Who could that be?" she thought. "Especially at this time in the morning." Slowly she walked over to the door and opened it. There outside her door, Iruka stood, eyes down on the tacky carpet.

A memory flashed through her head of seeing him there looking exactly how Iruka was.

Soon Iruka's eyes finally caught hers. "I'm here on business matters."

"…What is it then?" Raxiel could sense the tension between them.

"I spoke to the Hokage. She said she'd be glad to let you proceed with the final course. All you need to do is fill out a few papers and once you're done with that, come to the Hokage's Office, where you can begin." Iruka held out forms to her, and Raxiel gently took them.

Silence…

Finally Iruka spoke again. "Look, Raxiel, about last night, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to try to take advantage of you. It was just something I had really wanted to do for a long time." He sighed. "Anyways, I'll understand if you're still mad at me," and with that, he walked away.

Raxiel shut the door and finally breathed. She was glad for his apology, but she knew it would take a long time for her to gain his friendship back again. She slowly walked over to her calendar she had gotten a few months ago to keep up with the date in this world, and as she was getting closer to it, she started thumbing through the paperwork Iruka had given her.

"Hmm… I should try to get this done today," she mumbled to herself. Soon her eyes hooked onto the calendar.

"Four and a half months, starting today," she thought sadly. She thought that five months might push her to her limit.

After all, she was impatient…

She had to know if he was all right or not…

And she was tired…

Tired of waiting and being cramped up in the tiny hotel room…

Not to mention that she was running out of money. Iruka had given her some for her birthday, but she knew all too well that when that fifth month came, she'd be kicked out of her room for good.

That's when she knew…

She knew once the fifth month was here, it'd be time to go search for Sunagakure.

"Just two more weeks…"

Tossing her papers onto her bed and picking up a pencil, Raxiel tossed herself onto the bed, grabbed a pillow and the papers and began to fill them out.


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

"I'm here to take my exam," Raxiel informed a man who was standing next to the entrance of the Hokage's Office. The man sighed with boredom. "You must be the one the Hokage has been talking about."

"She has?" Raxiel looked baffled from his statement.

"Yeah. She's in her office. I'll go inform her." And with that, the man left Raxiel to herself. Raxiel waited a few minutes, trying not to get irritated. After a while, the man came back, opening the door a little more for Raxiel to enter. "She's ready for you," he said.

Once Raxiel entered the office, the man left the room, shutting the two wooden doors as he left.

Soon, Raxiel caught the Hokage's face, and they both smiled at each other. Raxiel took a few steps forward to get nearer to her. Finally, the Hokage began to speak. "Well, my friend told me that you're here to take your next test; is that correct?"

"Yes, Hokage –"

"Please, call me Tsunade. Formalities are not my thing."

Raxiel smiled. "Alright, Tsunade. Here are the papers that were requested to be filled out." She lay them on Tsunade's desk, and Tsunade quickly picked up the forms and rolled her chair back to give her a few inches between her and her desk. She opened a drawer and stuck the forums in it.

Raxiel gave her a questioning look. "You're not even going to –"

Tsunade stopped her. "No, I trust that you filled them out. Now, are you ready to begin your final test?" she asked impatiently.

"Um… Sure, I guess."

Tsunade quickly smirked. "Good. Then you'll come with me, and you can begin."

When they had both stood up, the same man opened the both doors. He abruptly began to speak. "Tsunade, there's been some good news about Sunagakure."

Raxiel's eyes widened. "Suna!" she blurted out loud.

"Go ahead," Tsunade said swiftly, and the man continued. "Apparently, we just got news that Orochimaru's gang is about to lose. It may take another few weeks or so, but the note we have received said that they will soon have to retreat. Although it's taken quite some damage, the land is still somewhat livable to the townspeople. Sunagakure had said that our forces should be able to retreat in about a month."

Tsunade smiled. "That's good to hear. Thank you."

The man bowed, fixing to leave, but Raxiel stopped him. "Wait! ...Do you have any news about the Kazekage? Is he still alive or not?"

"Unfortunately, the only information we've gotten about him is that he was taken to be hidden so the Sound Village could not find him. That information was given to us about two months ago; nothing else was or has been said."

Raxiel's hope sank. Two months was a long time to be gone, and she knew there was a chance she'd never see him again.

"Still, he didn't say that he had died," Raxiel thought to herself. Gratefully, she nodded to the man. "Thank you," she said generously to him, and soon the two women were left alone again.

Tsunade walked over to Raxiel. "Well, now that that's over, Raxiel, would you care to follow me to where your test will be?"

"Gladly," Raxiel stated. Soon the two walked out of the office, on their way to the test room.

Soon Raxiel would be on her way to Sunagakure…

And she couldn't wait…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Simply incredible!" Tsunade said as she was reading the results of Raxiel's written test. "She got every singe one of them right, with the exception of one. No one had even been able to get four out of the twenty right!"

"That's exactly what I was thinking," another ninja said. "There's just no way anyone could get "all" of them right. Are you sure she didn't cheat? Maybe Iruka gave her the answers."

"No, that's impossible. Iruka doesn't even know about the test, and the answers to these questions… well… there's just no way she could have gotten them. No one has ever written them down, and it's always a different test every year: same level, different questions. No, this girl is just plain good." Tsunade moved her head to look out of the window towards the sunset.

"She's just right for the mission…"

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"RAXIEELL! RAXIEELL!"

That's what she heard from outside her hotel room…

That noise, she heard at eight o'clock at night…

And that noise was the sound of the hyperactive Naruto who was outside her room, making the entire ruckus that a seventeen-year-old could make.

Trying to shut him up, Raxiel quickly opened her door to get his attention. He abruptly stopped and gave her a grand smile.

Raxiel looked at him, annoyed with his so happy attitude when she was not. "What do you want?"

Cheerfully, Naruto answered her question. "Tsunade told me to come over here to tell you the great news! You passed the exams!"

Snapping out of her irritated attitude, Raxiel's eyes widened with excitement. "Really!"

"Yeah! Believe it! And to celebrate, I'm taking you out for some ramen, Tsunade's pay! Isn't that great!"

Raxiel laughed. "It sure is. Just give me a second to get ready, and –"

"No, come on! You look fine! Let's go! I'm starvin'!"

And with that, Naruto grabbed her arms and stormed out of the hotel with her.

Raxiel knew she owed him, big time, and she couldn't help but laugh all the way to the restaurant.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"So how do you like yours, huh?" the blonde said.

Raxiel had just taken her first bite of her meal, and already he wanted hers. "I like it, Naruto, and I think I can finish it off by myself."

"Oh," he said a little depressed, but soon he focused back onto his own full bowl.

"So, Naruto, why did Tsunade give you money to take me out for ramen?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "I guess she was in a good mood. There was one other favor she asked of me though."

"Oh, really?" Raxiel said, starting to really like her ramen. "And what's that?"

"Well, it's about this mission. It's an A-rank mission, normally for a Jounin, but some of the higher Chunin are allowed to do them."

"Yeah. So what's your point?" she said, a little too concentrated on her ramen.

"Tsunade agreed to give it to me, but I have to have a partner. In detail, I have to have a kunoichi as my partner. So Tsunade asked me to tell you that she wants you to be my partner."

Raxiel almost choked. In fact, she almost thought about spitting out her ramen that she had in her mouth, but she quickly swallowed. "Oh, really? Is that so?"

"Yeah. So, I've got to ask you, will you be my partner for this mission?"

Raxiel looked down at her bowl, her mind deep in concentration. Finally she looked up and laughed softly at him. "I knew this ramen was going to cost me something. Alright, Naruto, I'll help you out. So what's first?"

Naruto's eyes widened with excitement. "Well, first thing in the morning, we're to meet Tsunade. She'll go over the details of the mission."

"Alright, sounds fair." Raxiel smirked.

She knew something bad was going to happen while she was on this mission…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"I win."

That was all he could say to himself as he looked up to see the "woman on the moon." He had finally found her instead of what Raxiel had called him. He smirked, knowing now that he really did have an imagination; nothing was wrong with him…

Nothing at all…

Except his heart…

That slice she had cut inside him still hurt. He didn't know if it would ever heal or not, but he was desperate to try.

"What makes it go away?" he asked the moon. He was bored out of his mind, and was tired of talking to himself. He thought that now was a better time than ever to talk to the bright, luminous "woman", since nobody was around. "This pain inside, will it ever heal?"

He remembered the words of his Uncle…

And he wasn't sure if he should believe them or not…

After all, he was betrayed by him…

He was betrayed by everyone…

Everyone, except her…

What had caused her not to betray him?

Thinking back to when he had last seen her, he remembered her pleading words, her begging words of her wanting to go with him.

_"Come on, Gaara! Let me go with you! I want to help you."_

Now remembering his severe strictness to her, he was almost glad he had been so strict. If she had come here with him, there's no telling what would have become of her.

She could have been dead by now…

Dead…

The Kazekage snapped those thoughts out of his head. He knew perfectly well that she was safe in Konohagure. She was just fine…

He hoped…

Anticipation…

"What makes it heal? Isn't this place inside someone called a heart? Why does it hurt so much, especially every time I think of her?"

He knew his heart and Raxiel were somehow related…

But how…

Medicine…

The medicine that he had never had before in his life from another human…

The medicine he didn't even think about was the answer…

Medicine…

Love…


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22:

"Good morning!" the happy brown-eyed Hokage said as the two supposed teammates entered her office. "I trust that you both got a good night's sleep last night!"

"Why?" Raxiel asked, bewildered by her happy-go-lucky attitude.

"Because if all goes correctly, the next four or five nights you'll be sleeping outside in the forests of the Land of Fire."

Naruto put his hands behind his head. "Really? What is this mission you're sending us on?"

Tsunade glanced at Raxiel. "I'm taking it you agreed to be his partner. Very well then, I'll go ahead and explain it. There is a man by the name of Matsu who is going around in the Land of Fire, trying to kill all of the leaders from different villages and etcetera to become one himself. He's caused riots in the Land of Grass (which is where he is from), and has even stirred up a few men to follow him, making him a very vicious man. Just a few months ago, he came to the Land of Fire, and he's been blackmailing businesses, making businesses become bankrupt one by one. Your job is to get him to tell you where his hideout is in the Land of Fire. That way, we can take care of this man and his group once and for all. You'll be traveling to a small town right on the border to where the Land of Grass meets the Land of Fire. There's a small restaurant that's famous for serving people – men in particular – with geishas. It's been said that Matsu goes there often. Raxiel, you will be escorted by Naruto to this place and will be there disguised as a geisha, and so therefore, your job will be to serve him, and somehow you will get him to spit out where this hideout is. Any questions?"

Raxiel's eyes were as wide as saucers. Naruto's face had a bored expression. Tsunade couldn't help but smirk at the two.

"I'll take that as a no," she finally said, breaking the silence.

"W-Wait, Tsunade. Me? A geisha? I don't even know the first thing about it."

Tsunade's eyes lit up, once again, with excitement. She bent down and opened up a drawer. Then pulling up two heavy books, she placed them on the table in front of her. "And that's why I'm sending you off with these books. They explain everything about the proper etiquette of being a geisha. Just read them while you're on the road, and you should do fine. I've even got all of the necessary items you'll need for the wardrobe. Looks like you're all set! I'll give you a map of where to go, and you can set off tonight. I'll be expecting you back at the most three weeks from today, understood?"

"Wait -!"

"Yes, Tsunade! We're off as soon as we're prepared!" Naruto cut in, picking up the books that lied on the desk in one hand and grabbing Raxiel's arm with the other, pulling her out of the tower before she could ask any more questions.

Raxiel jerked her arm away from his grasp. "What was that for?" she snapped at him.

Naruto frowned. "Raxiel, I saw that look on your face when we were in there. It was the 'I'm-getting-out-of-this' look."

"You're darn right it was!" Raxiel said lividly. "You expect me to –"

"Raxiel, come on! How bad can it be? This will be a chance to prove ourselves."

Suddenly, Raxiel knew what he was doing…

He was trying to win approval…

And she was going to ruin his big chance if she didn't do this mission.

Giving up with defeat, Raxiel sighed. "What time are we leaving?"

Then suddenly, she couldn't breathe due to the arms that were wrapped around her in a big hug. "Do you mean it! Are you serious!" Naruto exclaimed.

Raxiel started coughing for air. "Yes, I'm serious! But you'd better let go of me, or there won't be any mission for us!"

"Oops… Sorry." Naruto quickly let go of her. "Uh, right! So the time! We leave at six! See you at the hotel!" Soon Naruto was skipping away with joy.

And Raxiel was left with the biggest fear she had ever had…

She was going to be a geisha…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Hey! We're here!" Naruto excitedly shouted as they made their way past the gates and into the small village know as Exhibit-A.

As Raxiel looked around, she noticed that the village was quite smaller than the one she had been living at for the past four or so months. "So, Naruto, where do we go first?" Raxiel asked him, amused with her surroundings.

Naruto soon took out a map and held it in front of his face for him to read. "Next, we should go to the restaurant (Exhibit-B) and get you signed up so you can be there when he comes."

Raxiel's eyes quickly shifted onto him. "You'll be there, too, right?"

Noticing her tenseness, Naruto put the map out of his face and quickly smirked at her. "To accompany you there, yes. Any other time, I'll be waiting outside so no one gets suspicious."

Raxiel's eyes widened. "Out…side?"

Naruto couldn't resist the urge to burst out laughing form her expression. "Aw, come on, Raxiel! Nothing's gonna happen to you. You'll have a kunai in our 'back pocket,' in case something does go wrong."

Raxiel smiled at him with the remembrance that she was going to be armed with a weapon… or maybe two… "That's right, Naruto! I forgot all about that! Thanks!"

Naruto frowned. "Yeah, just don't forget them when you're in there."

Nervously, Raxiel started to laugh at his statement. The past five nights she had spent outside with him in the forests, she had grown to like him as a friend even more. Although sometimes he was rather annoying, she tried to see past that flaw, and soon, they were both getting along pretty well. He had even helped her out with trying to get the "being-a-geisha" disguise down properly. At night, when they'd stop to make camp, Raxiel would serve him and try to use the proper techniques that a geisha would use. He corrected her on some things, and now, she felt that she was ready to try her luck at it.

"So, where is this place?" Raxiel said, now gaining her confidence back.

Once again, Naruto looked at the map. "Looks like it's two blocks away. Let's get there and fast; I'm starvin'!"

"Same here!" Raxiel said. Quickly, they made it to the restaurant and went inside.

"I hope all goes as planned," she thought to herself. "Especially in the situation I'll be in. There's no telling what could happen."

Raxiel's thoughts soon started racing in her mind…

Fear…

Red…


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23:

"So how do I look?"

Raxiel stepped outside her hotel room where Naruto was waiting for her. It had taken her all together two hours to get everything perfect. Her hair, which had to be colored black, took her a full hour. Fortunately, the color washed out after showering once. Her makeup being plastered all over her face, had taken the second longest, and Raxiel thought it was the most tedious thing she had ever had to do. She was not used to having so much paint on her face that she wanted to take it all off. Her kimono, which took her a while to figure out how to get on due to the fact that she had never worn one, was black with a gold material bordering the edges of it. On the black part of the kimono, there were rose pedals on it, making the kimono look almost seductive all by itself. Raxiel knew this and was very self-conscious about it.

But she knew that was why she had the kunai tied around her waist, in case something like that was to be forced upon her.

Naruto was closely examining her. An uneasy smirk escaped from his mouth. "It looks great."

"IT looks great!" Raxiel said, almost yelling at the boy.

Naruto jumped a little having been startled by her sudden burst of noise. "Well, Raxiel, if I was to tell you what you look like, then… let's not go there. Come on! You've got an appointment with Matsu-san at nine!" Naruto gave her a pretend-to-be stern face. Raxiel tried to laugh; she tried to make things more relaxed…

But somehow, laughing just made her even more nervous.

Gladly, Raxiel took Naruto's offering arm, and they both made their way outside the hotel and towards the restaurant. She was so grateful that the "escort" had to lock onto the "dates" arm. She was so sure that she was going to pass out, but with Naruto's arm firmly clenching her own arm, it made her always come back to her senses.

"Tsunade said that this was my type of mission. Some mission I've got. Being an escort is no mission," Raxiel overheard as Naruto mumbled to himself. She tried to cheer him up. "Don't feel bad, Naruto-kun. There's more to the mission than just being an escort. You also take away the nerves. That there is something only a few people can do," Raxiel said smoothly, trying to warm-up her voice so she'd be ready for the real thing.

Knowing she was practicing, Naruto smiled. "Really? You think? I never thought about it that way."

"Oh, yes! Very much, I think so," she said quietly, but Naruto knew she was telling the truth. His smile grew wider.

With both of their confidences raised and their nerves a bit more relaxed, they finally made it to "Exhibit-B."

Naruto gently released his grip on her and quietly spoke to her so no one else could hear, "Right on time. I'll be waiting at the entrance in about two hours. Wait for me, until then." Naruto again glanced at her kimono that he had given her from Tsunade the night they had left Konoha. He had given her all the other items she had needed, as well, but this one stood out the most.

Raxiel gently nodded, knowing what would happen next. She soon said her goodbye and went inside the restaurant. There, she stood in her assigned room and waited.

It was going to be a long two hours…

But she knew what she had to do.

She knew her mission.

"Just stay focused," she kept saying inside her head to herself.

After waiting a few minutes (which seemed like hours to her), she finally spotted him, the man that looked like the picture they had seen of him. Quickly, she put on her most graceful smile and waited for him to enter the room…

But just as he was a few feet away, another geisha stopped to talk to him.

"Curse it!" Raxiel thought, not liking at all having to wait. She was longing to get the mission over with.

Then she caught something else in the corner of her eye…

Red…

Raxiel turned her head to take a better look at what she had caught with her eye.

Something about that face…

Something familiar…

Soon she saw the man that had caught her attention give the head table-waiter a big bag of… who knows what.

"Who is that?" Raxiel thought, trying to remember where she had seen the familiar face… or what she could see of the face, for a huge straw hat shadowed most of his face.

Raxiel soon heard a noise coming from the opposite direction to where she was glancing. It was Matsu, making his way into the room.

But suddenly, a waiter caught him…

The head table-waiter…

"I'm sorry, sir, but this room is already taken by another person."

The villain looked at the waiter lividly. "Excuse me? I paid good wages to get this exact room at this exact time."

"Well, you'll have to wait until the other reserved guess is done; he paid extra to get this room. Please, come this way, and I will get you another room."

Raxiel's eyes widened in panic…

"No…" she thought as the waiter took him away. "Who the heck is it? Why would they pay extra?" she thought as the door shut.

Soon another game of waiting occurred…


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24:

Raxiel was trying to calm down…

She was trying not to get nervous again…

She was really trying…

Very hard…

But nothing was working…

Minutes that seemed like hours went by, and finally the door opened. In came the man with the big straw hat who had been talking to the head table-waiter.

Raxiel's eyes started dancing. She couldn't look surprised, for if she did, it'd ruin the disguise. Quickly, she calmed herself down, and carefully, she smiled at the man as he shut the door. Now it was just Raxiel and the man.

Silence…

Raxiel tried to hold her sweet smile, but as her temper was rising, her smile was gradually fading. She wanted to know something about this man she would be serving for the rest of the restaurant hours…

Anything…

"Cool it, Raxiel," she thought, trying to be on her best behavior.

Soon she knew too much about the man.

As he slowly took off his straw hat, the almost-too-familiar black hair and red eyes were shown.

It was Itachi…

The one whom she never wanted to see again…

He'd caught her, and now she was under his command. No kunai could save her, for she knew too well that he surely already knew about it.

But instead she looked down, trying to look weak. She had to keep up the disguise.

There was a one percent chance that he didn't know who she was…

One percent…

But it was all Raxiel had to hold onto.

Hope…

Slowly, Red Eyes walked over to his chair and sat down, never taking his eyes off of her.

"Let the games begin," she thought as she slowly and gracefully walked over to him and poured him tea. Before long, she stepped back, waiting for his next set of orders.

After drinking the tea very slowly and quietly, he finally spoke, "Fine weather, huh?"

Raxiel's eyes widened. "THAT! THAT is what he's going to say!" she thought to herself. Quietly, she replied, "Yes, very fine."

"So then tell me, why did you pick a job like this where it's inside and not outside?"

"Trivia game this time, I suppose," Raxiel thought.

"It was the only job that would pay the most, and my mother and father need the money, mister… -"

"No, I don't want any formalities," he said, taking another drink.

"Then could I at least have your first name?" she asked calmly.

"Take a guess; call me whatever you want," he said, finally drinking all of the tea. "It's amusing that you would say being a geisha pays well, since most geisha get either little or nothing pay," he spoke casually.

Raxiel choked. "Curse him for being so smart!" Quietly, she walked over behind him and started to serve him more tea. His hand snatched hers before she could pour any. Raxiel almost jumped, but calmed herself just in time.

"Tell me something, geisha. Who are your parents? What clan are they from?"

Raxiel knew she should have started out with the sake instead. "Is it of any importance to you, Matsu?" She knew that if she weren't in this position, she would have called him renegade instead.

"Not exactly. I was just wondering, since I've never seen anyone else like you."

"How can he not show any emotion?" Raxiel thought. She frowned for a second but then remembered to smile. She set the teapot down and backed away towards the wall behind Red Eyes.

"Geisha."

Startled by his firm voice, she spoke a little tensely. "Yes?"

"Stand over there by the wall," he ordered. Raxiel was starting to feel her anger rise. She did not like this "Matsu" she was serving.

"May I ask why that wall?" she asked, now talking almost… seductively?

She was cursing herself for speaking in the foreign tone she was, but it was the only way to hang onto her hope.

"So I can look at you."

"Nice excuse," she thought blandly as she slowly made her way towards the opposite wall. Soon silence followed making Raxiel really believe that he had not figured out whom she was.

Then he asked the most stupid question that Raxiel did not have an answer for. "What is your name?"

That one stupid answer… she did not have…

"Darn it!" scrambling to think of a name, she soon started faltering. Itachi sensed it and slightly smirked.

"Your name, geisha," he said sternly.

Raxiel knew he was playing with her, but soon he took his game farther. He stood up and started walking towards her. She was about to make up a name when she suddenly noticed how close he had gotten…

Memories…

Unwanted…

"Amaya! It's Amaya, Matsu-san…"

Itachi's smirk grew by a millimeter. "Oh, what a nice name. No doubt named after your mother, right?"

"Wrong. My grandmother," she said smoothly yet stubbornly.

He took a few steps closer to her. Raxiel was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Her hand slipped behind her to clutch the kunai she had wrapped around her waist.

Itachi leaned in towards her, making their space tight. He closely examined her. "You remind me of someone."

"Oh, is that so?" she asked sweetly, now thinking that this would be a good time to use her kunai, but for some reason, she was paralyzed.

"Curse you, Itachi!" she thought, livid that Red Eyes was actually winning the game.

Red Eyes brought on of his hands up and licked the tip of his forefinger. "Yes, you do."

"Oh, and what's her name?"

And soon, Raxiel couldn't take it anymore…

When his wet forefinger touched her cheek, she gasped. The powder she once had on was now off, bare skin showing her cheek.

The residue was left on his finger…

Soon he had traced her right eye, leaving it bare to show her true identity.

The hairpiece she had been wearing had been unconsciously taken down with his other hand, showing some of her true brown hair she had missed coloring.

Raxiel's eyes were as wide as saucers, and noticing her complete hypnosis to him, Itachi smirked. He leaned in to whisper into her ear.

"Raxiel…" he hissed.

Foolishness…

Without thinking, Raxiel took out her kunai, placing it above her head in a striking position. Red Eyes effortlessly caught her hand before it could move downwards to strike the back of his neck.

Silence…

Finally, Red Eyes spoke, "You wouldn't happen to know her, would you?"

Raxiel, forgetting her one percent chance, blurted out, "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. What of it?"

"You can give her a message from me. Tell her in five days I'll want to see her at the spring. If she doesn't get the message or fails to come, then her little Kazekage friend will be killed," he snapped right back at her.

Raxiel gasped…

Her guard was let down…

All because of that one word…

Kazekage…

All because it was him he was talking about…

Him…

Very soon, she felt that same calloused hand begin to stroke her bare cheek again.

"Oh, and Amaya?"

"…Sir?"

"You look lovely tonight," he said seductively. Raxiel was about to lose control of herself when she accidentally dropped the kunai and it made a loud, clanging noise, snapping her back to reality.

Itachi let go…

He walked away…

"But I'm afraid you're just not right for me," he said. With that, he was gone, taking his straw hat with him.

Him…

Unwanted Memories…

Those feelings of love can never be buried…

They'll never leave you alone…


	26. Chapter 25

Chapter 25:

Kazekage…

How could he!

Is he alive?

Raxiel was flabbergasted, trying to replay what had happened just an hour ago. Thinking about it while she was bathing wasn't helping her. Sadly, she sank deeper into the tub of water.

"Has Red Eyes even seen him?" she asked herself. "Why was he even here? Has he been following me? What would make him do that?"

She was lying to herself…

She knew all too well why he should stalk her…

It wasn't her…

It wasn't her original self…

Her past was what made her so valuable.

When the most evil creature finds the most pure heart, it is either attracted or repelled to it.

This time, it was unfortunately attracted.

"It isn't his fault. It's my fault for having an artificial heart," she thought. "And he can't help but want more of it. More of its light…"

Soon, her bath water was becoming a dark grey color due to the rinse-off hair color she had put in her hair. That grey water was a sign for her to get out. With the towel wrapped around her body and the other towel wrapped around her hair, Raxiel began to think again about him…

Kazekage…

"I wonder if that's why he hasn't ditched me either… because of my pure heart," she pondered as she started dressing into a set of comfortable clothes. Tonight, they were retreating back to "home." Apparently, Naruto had figured out that Matsu was seeing another geisha, and he caught the girl and paid her to get the information they needed from him.

Mission: barely accomplished, no thanks to her.

As she began to gather her things and put them back into her bag, she couldn't help but look at the windowsill to see a red rose sitting there.

Blood lust…

Blood lust for her…

Itachi…

"Curse you! Curse me for having a pure heart!" she thought as she threw the rose outside her window. She wanted nothing to do with him anymore, but she knew he had threatened her. And if she didn't do as he pleased, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to see him.

With all of her items gathered, she swung her bag over one of her shoulders and began to head for the door. "Alright, I'll play his little game, but if he goes over-board, I'm cheating," she said to herself, opening the door and walking out of her room to go search for her teammate.

It was time to make a few of her own threats to him…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

He was ready…

Ready to keep her…

To keep her so she could help him…

Help ease his pain…

Every time he was around her, it seemed as though she always had the answers to his questions. The questions he had wanted answers to for the longest time.

Something was different about her…

Something pleasantly different…

He had to have her for his own…

And no one said "no" to him.

The past four months, he had been stalking her, making sure she was all right and that no one hurt her.

He knew she didn't want to see him.

But when he had heard about the mission she was assigned to, he knew that this was his opportunity to get her under his grasp.

The plan had worked, but not as he had expected.

She was still afraid of him.

He hadn't hurt her at all, and yet she was still afraid of him.

He knew she hated him…

Him and his Red Eyes…

But he knew somewhere inside of her, she was curious about him…

He'd just have to amuse her a but longer…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

_"Then do you hate me, Yashamaru?"_

_Silence…_

_"People hurt each other and get hurt during their lifetimes. But it is difficult to hate another, Gaara."_

_"Thanks, Yashamaru! I think I understand what hurting is, now."_

_"Really?"_

_A pain no one could grasp… only the victim…_

_"Maybe I'm injured, too, like everyone else…"_

_Heart…_

_"I always hurt here…"_

_Heartless…_

_Emptiness…_

_Nothingness…_

_"I'm not bleeding, but my chest really hurts here."_

_Anguished beyond spoken words…_

_Red…_

_"Flesh wounds bleed, and they may seem painful… But as time goes by, the pain eventually disappears. And if you use medicines, the wounds will heal even faster. But the tricky wounds are the ones of the heart. Those are difficult to heal."_

_Red…_

_Why must it be so hard…_

_Why must this pain be so hard to take away…_

_"A wound of the heart, Yashamaru?"_

_"A wound of the heart is different from a flesh wound. Unlike a flesh wound, there are no ointments to heal it, and there are times when they never heal."_

_Never-ending pain…_

_Why must I bear the pain…_

_Bear the pain all by myself…_

_"But there is one thing that can heal a wound of the heart."_

_…!_

_"It is a troublesome medicine, and you can only receive it from another person."_

_Medicine… from another person…_

_How?_

_Where?  
_

_When?  
_

_"What! How can I heal this…?"_

_So swift…_

_Not even thinking…_

_How troublesome…_

_"The one thing that can heal a wound of the heart is…"_

_…Red…_

_"Love."_

_…?  
_

_Those feeling of love can never be buried…_

_They'll never leave you alone…_


	27. Chapter 26

Chapter 26:

"I really owe you one, Raxiel! Big time, I do!" Naruto said. They had just made it to the gates of their old town and were about to go their separate ways.

Raxiel smiled. "Yes, Naruto, you do. And I know exactly how you can. Meet me at my hotel room around seven, and you and I are going to go over something I've been needing for a while."

"You've been needing something?"

"Yes, I need your help with a map. Since you know your way around, I could use your help on how to get to a specific place."

Naruto smiled. "You got it! See you tonight!" and with that, Naruto quickly took off running.

Raxiel sighed…

She knew she was forgetting something very important…

She wasn't sure what, but she knew that tonight something was going to happen tonight…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

As Raxiel began to unpack certain necessities, she was trying to think of what other things she would need to buy before her adventure to Suna began. "I only have a little money left, but from doing that mission, I should get just enough to buy a few more items."

She turned to look at her clock.

Six o'clock…

"Just enough time to get a shower before he comes," she thought, looking at herself in the mirror and seeing how gross she was.

Just as she was about to grab her new set of clothes she had picked out, something caught her attention.

Windowsill…

Red…

"Itachi! Aw, crud! I knew I forgot something!" She sprinted into the shower, grabbing whatever clothes she could get.

The map was going to have to wait…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

…Crunch… crunch… crunch…

Raxiel was trying to finish the rest of her apple so she could toss it away before she came across Red Eyes.

Luckily, she had spared enough time to write a quick note to Naruto, telling him they'd have to meet tomorrow sometime.

…Crunch… crunch… crunch…

Finally done with it, Raxiel tossed the apple's core into the tall bushes and wiped the sweat off her forehead. It was going to be a hot, mosquito-eating night, and what Raxiel scrambled to put on during her rush was not fit for it. It was the same attire she had worn that time when he had taken her out to dinner…

Showing too much…

Raxiel tried to laugh off the ridiculous scene of her with the wardrobe on walking in a hot forest, but somehow she knew she should be nervous…

Soon, the spring was visible. Raxiel looked around to see if Red Eyes was there yet, but she didn't see him. "Good! That gives me time to think about what I'm going to say," she thought. Soon, she took a seat on one of the large stones and began to concentrate on her lines.

After a few, short minutes, she finally sensed his presence. She called out to him. "You're late."

"Not as late as you are finding me."

Raxiel looked up, and she saw him. He was hanging from his feet on a branch upside down, hanging at least thirty feet up in the air.

Raxiel's eyes widened. He had been above her the whole time…

Soon, her temper was tested. "Really? And why couldn't you have come down here sooner so we could have gotten this meeting over quicker?"

"You needed time to think about what you were going to say, didn't you?"

Raxiel choked, as there was nothing for her to say.

Gracefully, Itachi glided down next to her; his tall, lean figure stood next to her petite, curvy, yet fit figure.

Suddenly, Red Eyes spoke. "I see my friend Amaya gave you the message."

"Yes, she did. I heard from her that you were flirting with her, and she didn't like it. You like to hurt people, don't you? You hit them hard on the mental spot?"

"I simply get the job done. What's the matter? Something wrong with that?"

"Oh, no. I just wonder what goes on in our head while you're doing such malicious things," she said calmly.

"Perhaps you'd like to get a taste of it," he hissed.

"What? You'd do that to me?" She started to laugh.

Itachi started to get irritated. "What?" he snapped.

"I really don't understand you, Itachi. First, you save my life – more than once, to be exact; - next you stalk me. And now, you're getting every chance you can to see me. I have to ask, why? Why pick someone like myself and not kill it? Don't you know that usually 'weaklings' like myself get in the way of 'superiors'?"

"Perhaps you're not as weak as you think, kunoichi. I saved you because you remind me of someone."

"You said you'd never seen anyone like me!" Raxiel snapped too quickly.

"You forget… I said that to Amaya." Red Eyes smirked.

Raxiel choked…

Silence…

Itachi leaned over her and whispered in her ear. "I win."

"Curse you!" she whispered back into his ear. Itachi could feel her breath, and he knew that was what she wanted. He leaned in closer. "We are all cursed. Cursed from the day we're born. Do you know why?"

Raxiel remained silent, her eyes looking straight ahead at the huge tree on the other side of the spring. Itachi made sure to get his body in front of her eyes. Quietly, he spoke again.

"Sin…"

He noticed he had caught Raxiel's attention with his last word. She smirked. "Well, what do you know? You're right about that," she said as genially as possible.

"So then why do you act as if there is no sin in your life? When I look at you, all I can see is purity. Why so?" he asked curiously.

"Hmm… I've got a few things you don't have."

"I want them. I want you."

"Wrong!" Raxiel shouted, liking how he wasn't trying to take over the whole conversation…

Yet…

Raxiel continued. "What you want is either one of two things or both: you either have lust, or you either have a need for light."

Itachi leaned in closer; his lips were brushed along hers. They were both trapped in the second game, which was a staring contest.

"What if it's both?"

"Then I can't help you."

Itachi grew angry. "Why?"

"Because…" Raxiel sighed. She did not want this meeting to become a therapy. Quickly, she changed the subject. "Look, I'm here only because you made it a threat. What do you want?"

Noticing the sudden change in topic, his smirk resided back into an emotionless gaze "Surely, you already know."

"How should I know?" Raxiel asked irritated by how close he still stood next to her.

Raxiel felt a hand clutch her throat gently. "I've already said it," Red Eyes said softly. Raxiel opened her mouth in panic for air. Itachi saw the moment and got closer to her. "I want you."

Raxiel's eyes widened. Soon she saw his tongue appear in front of her and knew what was coming.

"Me and my big mouth…"

His tongue entered ferociously, memorizing every corner of her mouth, dancing wildly in her. Raxiel tried to withdraw, but with her throat being clutched, all she could do was wait for it to be over.

Soon, Itachi let go for more breath. That's when Raxiel stepped back, her hand wiping off her lips.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" she asked angrily.

Itachi smirked. "That's just what I was going to ask you. Something is wrong with you. You're too pure. I want to take some of it away from you. I want some of it."

Raxiel's eyes widened. "There's no such thing as too pure -!"

"As there is no such thing as too evil!" he snapped back.

"Shut up! I don't want to se you again! I came here; therefore my part of the threat is off."

Red Eyes did something she would never forget…

He closed his eyes…

Mumbling something…

"You're what I've been looking for. My leader said he had sensed something too pure here, and I have found it. You're to come with me, unless you want to die."

Raxiel's eyes widened, noticing the sudden change in topic. "You're joking, right?"

Foolishness…

Itachi looked up at her, eyes blood red…

The most horrifying thing she had ever seen…

Then his eyes put a spell on her eyes…

Raxiel began to feel very light-headed…

Before she knew it, she was asleep.


	28. Chapter 27

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay. I've been very sick, so I wasn't able to type another chapter. I'm getting better, and there shouldn't be any more delays.

Onto the next chapter!

Chapter 27:

"Any reports on seeing any Sound ninja?"

"No, we've hit the last of them. The next thing will be to call in securities and to repair the towns."

"Good. Dismissed."

As the ninja left his office, he stood up from his chair and walked over to one of the windows to view the town.

Too long had the townspeople been working to reconstruct their homes and the land…

And then, this?

He didn't know if they could ever rebuild the land like it used to be. But he had to try, or else they were doomed.

Three months he had been hiding, just incase the Sound clan had caught them off guard.

It had been a while since he'd gotten a good view of his land…

"It looks pathetic," he thought to himself. Soon, he walked back over to his desk and saw a certain item he had forgotten he had brought with him back from Konoha.

Red…

He picked up the now-dead flower and closely examined it. Memories started to sink into his head…

Raxiel…

There was no way he was going to let her come here when his town looked like a big pile of ruins. He wanted her to see his land like it was just a few years ago.

"Just wait a little while longer," he kept saying to himself. The past five months had been very aggravating.

He missed her…

He missed his friend…

But he knew…

He knew he could wait…

And so he put her aside. He told himself he had to wait, and he did.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"…Sleep, kunoichi."

Akatsuki was the name of the place she was in, and Raxiel did not like it. For almost two weeks she had been stuck inside a dark and dreary room, which was known as Itachi's room. She was tired due to not having any sleep at all for the past week. Itachi had threatened her that the only place she could sleep was in his bed, and if she tried to sleep by the only window in the room, he'd kill her.

She knew it…

It was driving him insane…

She knew that with her being by the windowsill at all times, Itachi had to always watch her, which meant no sleep for him. For a while, she had been winning the battle…

But now she could barely keep her eyes open…

It reminded her of him…

Insomniac…

Kazekage…

"How could he have not slept his entire life?" she wondered as she stared out the window like she had been doing all that week. She had made a commitment to not look or even talk to Itachi…

Not until he was ready to give up…

Soon, a hand gently held her shoulder.

"Raxiel… It's been too long…"

She ignored him… "It's been too long since we've had sleep," she thought as if she was finishing his sentence.

"Are you trying to commit suicide?"

Finally, she knew she was digging into his weak spot. There was one thing he was better at then Itachi…

Lack of sleep…

"Red Eyes, let me go," she whispered.

Itachi sighed. These past few weeks had made him realize how stubborn she really was. The answers that he had wanted were soon… vanishing…

What made him want to keep her?

Light…

_"There is no such thing as too pure -!"_

But he did not let go of her.

He refused to stay awake for one more night. He was forcing her into the darn bed whether she wanted to or not.

"Kunoichi, you're tired. Why do you beat yourself up?"

"It's vice-versa. I'm beating you up."

_"As there is no such thing as too evil!"_

Maybe it was all he could be…

Darkness…

And she could only be light…

Pure light…

Light that he would always want, but never be able to have…

He knew that his "leader" wanted her light. It was really his "leader" who was going to take it all away, but somehow, when he thought of her light being taken away in such a way that his "leader" would take it away, it caused him to want her to get away from here.

Akatsuki…

Sleep…

Kunoichi…

Itachi had had enough. Finally, he let go of her. He turned towards the bed and gently spoke to her. "You will see your friend soon. Sleep, and I'll give you a deal in the morning."

Raxiel finally glanced at him. With all of her effort she smirked. "Deal?"

"Deal."

With that, Raxiel got up and followed Red Eyes to his bed. As soon as he had gotten in, he lifted the sheet up, giving her a place to get under.

But Raxiel had a different plan…

She snatched the sheet and threw it off her side and lay down on the edge of the bed, not wanting any personal warmth from him.

Soon, she was getting out…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Kazekage-sama, we've spotted a few Akatsuki members coming very close to Suna. What would you like us to do?"

"Be on the lookout. If anyone tries to come into Suna, reject them"

"Why would Akatsuki want to come here?" the Kazekage thought.

Somehow, he knew something bad was going on…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"When you spot a palm tree, steer to the left. After a few miles, you should come across the gates of Sunagakure. You should be safe there."

Those last words that Red Eyes said to her stayed with her, especially seeing the huge palm tree up ahead. Their deal was made complete when he said he would give her an exit to leave. He didn't like it, but Raxiel was stubborn and forced it upon him. They had been working on the plan for a couple of days, and in exchange for his help, Raxiel allowed him to sleep by resting in the bed alongside him.

She hadn't liked it…

But now that she was free, she knew it was worth it.

"Just a few miles left," she kept telling herself. As the sun beat down harder on her, she really wished she had saved the last of her water…

But it was a desert. What could you expect?

"I can make it," she said. "Just a little further…"


	29. Chapter 28

Chapter 28:

"Why have you come here?"

"I'm here to see the Kazekage. Is he available?"

Finally after another hour of walking in the desert, Raxiel had made it to Sunagakure. She was hoping to get into the village as soon as possible…

But it looked like it wouldn't be that easy.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. No guests are allowed right now into the land. Please leave now."

Raxiel's eyes widened at the guard. "No… guests?"

"That's right. You'll have to find yourself another place to go."

But Raxiel wasn't going to give up that easily. She turned around and walked away… past the guard where the only thing that was keeping her from Suna was a big wall.

"I can climb it," she thought, thoroughly examining the wall. Soon she was on top of the wall, ready to make her way downwards into Sunagakure.

Not until the guard caught her…

And, sure enough, there were other guards with the guard she had previously talked to.

"Stop! Akatsuki!"

Raxiel's eyes widened. "They think I'm with Akatsuki!" she thought.

Suddenly, her heart raced. She knew what they'd do if they caught her. Quickly, she jumped off the wall and into Suna. She knew that would buy her some time, but somehow, she had to find him. She had come all this way, and she wasn't about to become captured.

Raxiel looked around to see nearly all of the used-to-be towers were destroyed due to the war. But there was one tower in the middle of the village that was still standing. She decided that would make a good hiding spot… for the time being.

Quickly, she started heading for the tower, soon hearing loud footsteps behind her of guards chasing after her.

"Half-way there! Just have to figure out where the door is!" she encouraged herself as she neared the building. Figuring out that there was no door on the side that she was running to, she quickly ran to the other side of the building to keep over for a few minutes to try to lose the guards. She leaned her body against the building, trying not to be seen. Her panting wasn't making her hideout any better.

"I just need a way to get inside!"

Suddenly, she felt something rough and hard begin to cover her legs. She looked down to see what it was.

Sand…

Raxiel's eyes widened, and she started to wince as the sand began to crawl up her whole body.

Swiftly, the sand pulled on her body, forcing her body… into the wall?

Invincible…

Once the sand had taken her out of the wall and into the pitch-black room in the building, Raxiel looked around, flabbergasted by what had just happened.

The sand let go of her…

Then, a dagger moved towards her from behind her, barely slitting her throat.

"Name yourself, Kunoichi from Akatsuki."

That voice…

Raxiel had had enough. Fearfulness turned into anger as she burst out with rage. "Why does everyone think I'm with Akatsuki? My name is Raxiel, and I'm here to see my friend, who just so happens to be the Kazekage!"

The enigma's dagger moved away from her throat a few centimeters.

Raxiel's temper grew even fiercer. " And I'll have you know that if my friend saw you doing this to me, he'd have you dead by now with his sand…"

Sand…

"Raxiel?" the stranger said softly.

That voice…

How misguided she was.

Raxiel choked. "Yeah, that's my name," she said calmly.

"You're a friend of the Kazekage's?" he asked gently, his dagger was now removed from her throat.

With the room being pitch-black, Raxiel knew it would be futile to turn around to see or even try to make out who the enigma was.

That voice…

His voice…

"Yes, I was hoping to find him. Do you know where he is?"

"He's hiding. No one can see him, unless they know how."

With her eyes getting used to the dark, Raxiel could see the wall that was in front of her… and a light switch. Quickly, she jerked the switch on.

Light…

She turned around to see a redhead, green-eyed seventeen-year-old Kazekage by the name of Gaara. His hair was a bit longer and more ruffled, and his body had put on more mass due to muscle. His porcelain face seemed to have taken on a bit of color, and his facial features seemed more relaxed.

As Raxiel studied his tall structure, Gaara couldn't help but do the same to her, noticing how much her body had matured over the months he had been absent from her. While they were staring though, not one of them paid attention to the footsteps of the guards coming their way.

Gaara was about to say something when he was suddenly jerked around his neck by a pair of arms encircling him. His eyes shot wide open.

"She's doing something to me…

"What is this called? A hug?"

Soon he felt something warm on his chest… and a vibration…

"She's laughing?"

Soon her embrace became even tighter, making him want to do something in return.

But he wasn't sure what to do…

He had never been hugged before…

Before he could try, Raxiel had let go of him and backed away.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hugged the Kazekage."

Hug…

"So that's really what it's called," he thought to himself, watching Raxiel begin to laugh the laugh that he had missed. Soon, it was his turn to respond. "Don't call me that," he said bluntly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Gaara. But you know, it is the truth."

"What are you doing here?" he asked sharply, noticing that Raxiel's smile was beginning to grow. "What?" he asked, pretending to be annoyed with her so-happy attitude.

"You're still the same, I see. Well, if you must know, Akatsuki kidnapped me. Fortunately, I was able to escape. Turns out I came across this place."

"It's not all a lie," she thought…

"Okay, it is a lie, but what other excuse can I come up with? If I has said I came here because I was worried about him, he'd probably be upset with me…"

Soon she noticed Gaara's eyes turning into concernment. "You were captured?"

"Yeah, but I'm fine," she said hesitantly. She didn't like that look on Gaara's face.

"They didn't do anything to you," he stated demandingly.

"No, of course not! I already told you; I'm fine. Nothing happened."

Gaara sighed with frustration. Raxiel looked at him angrily. "What?" she asked sharply.

"…There's been spotting of Akatsuki members around here. They must be looking for you."

"Oh…"

"And out of all the lands you could have come to, you had to pick this one," he mumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked angrily. "Aren't you glad to see me?"

Gaara's eyes widened. "What? Of course I am, Raxiel. Don't be ridiculous. It's just that, since Sunagakure just had a war, we're basically in no condition to fight, especially since this is Akatsuki we're talking about. We're at a big disadvantage if they figure out where you're at."

Raxiel looked down. She knew he was right. If she stayed here, it'd only bring worse things for him and his land. She didn't want to leave…

But it was the only option.

Raxiel looked at him with a cheerful smile. "Alright then, Gaara, I'll leave Sunagakure. That way, your land won't be in such a bad position."

Once again, Gaara's eyes widened. "What?"

"It only makes sense that I should leave, right?"

"Uh… well, that's not entirely true. There is one way we could keep you hidden, but still live here," he spoke hesitantly.

"There's no way she'll go for this…"

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

"You could stay at my place. My sister and brother live there, too; so it wouldn't be just us two. You'd have your own section of the house, and you'd have much-needed security, until Akatsuki leaves. Then we could get you your own apartment."

Raxiel looked down, concentrating on her shoes.

"But if I can make her stay, I wouldn't have to be alone anymore…" he thought desperately.

After a few anticipating minutes, Raxiel finally shifted her eyes into Gaara's eyes and spoke. "Aright, we'll give it a try, as long as we're under a few negotiations."

Gaara's eyes widened with shock. She had said yes…

Trust…

"Sure; we can discuss them while I take you there."

"That's fine," Raxiel said. Soon they both heard loud noises coming from the narrow hall behind Gaara.

Raxiel's eyes widened. "Oh no! It's those guards!" she said, now seeing them getting closer. Gaara turned around to face them. As he did, the guards stopped, looking at the Kazekage with bewilderment.

Finally, Gaara spoke to the men. "What's this all about?" he snapped.

"She crossed into Sunagakure without our consent," a guard responded.

Gaara turned around to look at Raxiel. He stared at her, amused by her hesitant facial appearance. "How were you able to get past the guards?"

"I… jumped over the wall…" Raxiel spoke embarrassingly.

Gaara couldn't help but smirk from the expression on Raxiel's face. He knew she didn't like to do the wrong thing. It was like she was waiting for her punishment from him, the Kazekage. He quickly turned around to look at the guards again, his expression back to emotionless.

"Get out of here, and don't let me see any one of you again for the rest of the day." he ordered with seriousness in his voice, and immediately, the guards took off. Raxiel watched in bewilderment. Gaara soon turned around and smirked at her in a friendly way, this time, so she could see it.

"Follow me."


	30. Chapter 29

Chapter 29:

"How do you remember your way around this place if there's no trail to your house?" Raxiel said, baffled as Gaara was leading the way across another desert "towards" his house. They had been walking through this strand of desert for at least a full hour, and Raxiel was starting to get concerned as the sun was quickly going down.

"When you've lived in the same land all of your life, you know where everything is," he replied softly so that Raxiel could barely hear him since he was ahead of her. "It's not too far away. Just a few more miles," he said, trying to persuade her to not ask any more questions.

Raxiel's eyes shot open in disbelief, and once again, she found more words to say. "A few more miles! By the time we reach the place, it'll be morning! We've already walked at least five or six miles."

Suddenly, Gaara abruptly stopped, and since he was leading the way, Raxiel stopped as well so she wouldn't run into him. Gaara turned around and closely looked at Raxiel.

"…Are you scared?" Gaara questioned her nonchalantly.

"No, but don't you think there is some hazard in walking through an unmarked desert in the middle of the night?"

Before Raxiel could say anything else, her eyes slightly widened at the fact that the Kazekage was right next to her. She looked up at his face to see that he was curiously looking at her.

"Darn it!" she thought. "When did he get so much taller than me?"

Finally, Gaara spoke to her quietly. "I can get us there quickly, but that would require for you to follow my instructions, which you are usually not good at, being your usual stubborn-self."

Raxiel quickly snapped back at him. "Name one time I didn't 'obey' you!"

"I'll name a few times. The first time was when we had both met each other, and I told you to see a doctor for your injuries. You denied needing to see one, even though I know you were wrong about that. The next time was when I told you to get a hotel room. It was that exact same night, and you didn't. I had to get one for you. After that, it was the situation about you not staying in your hotel room when I specifically asked you to stay in it. –"

…Raxiel could tell he was going to go on until she had to give up. Finally, she stopped him. "Okay! Okay! I get it. But I promise, this time, I'll do anything you tell me to do. Just please get us to the darn house before we both perish away in the sand."

Anything…

She shouldn't have said that…

"All right, if that's what you want," Gaara stated casually. "My sand can transport us there, but you'll need to hold onto me tightly. If it goes smoothly, we should be able to get there in about a minute's time. But if it gets too rough for you, you'll have to tell me, and we'll stop."

Raxiel smirked. "That's it?"

"Yes, but I need you to make sure that if the sand gets too rough, you'll tell me. If the sand starts to harden on you, it could suffocate you –"

"Okay, I get it. I'll make sure to tell you," Raxiel stated eagerly.

Gaara sighed. He could tell she was impatient. Raxiel heard his deep breathing and stared at him. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"You're impatient."

"What? Of course, I am! I haven't had anything to drink, no sleep, and no food for the past two days! I'm a little out of it from being in the sun all of those two days, so yes, I am impatient."

Gaara soon understood why now…

No water…

"It makes a person who is not used to the conditions of a desert go crazy if they don't get water frequently," he thought. "She must be sick from dehydration."

"You said you've had no water for two days?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's right."

"Then we should hurry. You should have told me sooner. You're probably sick from dehydration."

Raxiel's eyes widened. "Sick?"

Gaara shifted his weight onto his other foot, and soon, he was becoming just as impatient as she was. But the kind of "impatient" he had was a different kind than hers. "Yes, from no water. Hurry up and hold onto me, and we can start going."

Raxiel quickly nodded. She slowly walked over to Gaara and studied his body, curious as to how she should fasten herself to him.

Gaara quickly caught onto her hesitant face. He knew that he could understand how she felt.

She was embarrassed…

And so was he…

But Gaara was the first one to shake off that feeling. "Hurry up!" he ordered.

Raxiel quickly did so by wrapping her arms around his neck. Gaara's eyes shot wide open.

It was another embrace…

Why did it feel so confusing to him…

So confusing… and yet so right...?

Maybe it was because in the past, no one had been able to touch him…

And here…

She wasn't touching his hand; she wasn't just touching his hand. She was touching all around him. But he knew he needed to shake off those feelings.

Those feelings that he had promised himself he wouldn't have…

"Ready?" he asked, trying to take his mind off of what he was just thinking. Slowly, Raxiel nodded. As Gaara felt her head begin to rise and fall, he quickly summoned his sand, causing it to form a barrier around them.

Suddenly, their view was darkened, and all that could be heard was the sound of sand crunching all around them.

Raxiel soon began to feel sand rise over her arms and legs, and quickly, it began to harden.

"Umm… Gaara…"

"I know. Hold on," he told the small, faint voice that was Raxiel's. He could tell she was getting even more uncomfortable than when she had first just put her arms around him. They had only been in the vortex of sand for twenty-three seconds (Gaara counted), but he could soon feel sand around his neck begin to tighten around Raxiel's arms.

"If I can just keep it away from her for a few more seconds…"

Twenty-five…

"Tell me when it gets to your chest. We'll stop then," Gaara stated to her.

But Raxiel was too flabbergasted to respond.

Twenty-eight…

Raxiel felt her arms being constricted. Soon, they were beginning to feel limp and numb, but she bit her bottom lip. She was not going to shriek.

Not until it was necessary…

Thirty-one…

Just as she thought she was going to make it, she felt something constrict her chest.

That was when she knew she couldn't take it anymore…

She started moaning, not liking anything of what she was feeling. Gaara heard her and knew it was time to stop.

Thirty-five…

In the blink of an eye, the sand that covered both Raxiel and Gaara collapsed to the ground, letting both of them see, once again.

They had made it.

Just about thirty feet away was a huge house made out of sand that looked like a grand mansion.

It was his…

Gaara looked down at Raxiel to see her face tucked into his chest. He almost smiled at how she was so cowered down, like a child who had just seen a monster…

Monster…

Demon…

He did not want to feel those wounds again. Sharply, he began to speak to her. "Are you okay?"

Hesitantly, her head rose, revealing her face. She looked up at him to see that there was actual light caused by the moon to see him. She quickly smiled, relieved that it was over. "I'm fine."

Soon, Gaara calmed himself down and gave her a half-smile. He nudged her shoulder with his hand to get her to turn around, and Raxiel turned around to see what he was looking at.

Her eyes widened.

Her mouth dropped.

For once, Raxiel was speechless. As she continued to eye the gigantic house, Gaara stepped in beside her, glancing at her face to see her reaction.

"What do you think?" he asked her, curious as to what she would say.

Raxiel was too stunned to say anything. Trying to get her mouth to work only led to her faltering her words. What should have been sand on the ground was a beautiful, apricot-colored, two-story house. Windows were surrounding it making it look even more astounding, and the grand entrance almost made it look like an old mansion where people used to have huge, fancy parties.

What amazed Gaara was the fact that no matter how hard Raxiel tried no words would come out of her mouth. "She must be very dehydrated," he thought to himself, pleased that she was so amazed by his house.

"Come on, Raxiel. Let's get you inside."

Finally, Raxiel spoke. "You mean we can actually go in there?"

Gaara smirked. "That's where I live, and you're staying at my place, right? So yes, that is where we're going."

"A-Are you sure?"

"Raxiel, let's go, and that's an order. You really need water," he said as strictly as he could. Soon, Raxiel was following him as they made their way inside the house.


	31. Chapter 30

Chapter 30:

"Wow! This feels so good!"

When her body felt the warm water from the shower touch her skin, Raxiel almost thought she was in heaven. As the sand and dirt washed off of her, her skin starting changing colors from grungy brown to light olive. Raxiel had never in her life wanted to take a shower so badly before than that night, and her wish had come true.

Her own bathroom on the second floor that Gaara had shown her just about an hour ago was huge. She was almost about to complain about how big it was, but when she saw the stern look in Gaara's face, she decided to keep her mouth shut and just accept the bathroom… and the huge bedroom that came along with it just across the hall.

With her happiness rising, she began to hum a little song in the shower, not thinking that anyone could hear her. She closed her eyes, thinking how good it would feel to fall into that huge bed that was in her huge room. She began to think of how long and hard she would sleep that night.

But something snapped her out of her wonderful daydream…

…Something… growling…?

Raxiel quietly laughed at the sound of her stomach, telling her that she was famished. But Raxiel knew all too well that she was much too tired to go downstairs to get something to eat.

Her stomach would have to wait until the morning.

Finally turning off the water and starting to dry off, Raxiel began to hum her little song again, only this time, louder.

She knew everything was going to be all right…

Her friend was safe, and she was safe…

Nothing else mattered to her…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

What Raxiel did not know was that while she was in the shower, someone was listening to her humming…

In fact, her humming had entranced someone…

As Gaara began to walk down the hallway towards Raxiel's room, he soon heard a sound that sounded like someone humming…

It was coming from the bathroom…

Her bathroom…

Gaara knew he should hurry up and set the tray of food on her bed and quickly leave so he wouldn't disturb her…

But something about that humming kept him from going into her bedroom.

He stopped next to her bathroom to hear more of the sound of her voice.

It was hypnotizing him, and he knew it…

But for some reason, he just couldn't get away…

It was a song she had made up, and it was obvious to him because the song sounded so darn awful that if it were to be published for the world to hear, everyone would wish to be deaf just by the sound of it.

But in that song she was humming, he could sense happiness and peacefulness that he wanted to get more of…

And that's why he stayed by the bathroom…

Her bathroom…

Right next to the wall…

His eyes closed, taking in how wonderful the song made him feel…

For an instant, his heart didn't hurt so much anymore…

For a second, all of his worries and fears were taken away from him…

That was something only she had been able to do, and he knew it.

After listening for a few minutes, he finally shook off his enchantment to the music and swiftly walked away into her bedroom.

"What is so different about that song than any other peaceful song?" he thought, angry with himself for getting so caught into the music as he set the tray of food down on her bed.

But he knew all too well the reason why…

Because it was her song…

And she was singing it…

No matter how hard he tried to get her out of his thoughts, it was futile. Nothing had worked; not even the war he had been in had gotten her out of his head.

Gaara quickly glanced behind him towards the door to her bathroom. He wondered if she had the same "syndrome" that he had…

Of course, he would never have enough courage to ever ask her that. It would always just be something that he'd question in his mind. Besides, weren't seventeen-year-olds… almost eighteen-year-olds too young to be thinking about such stuff…

Gaara's eyes shot open. Had he really been thinking such things…

Things of love…

What happened to the agreement they had made?

The agreement of being just friends…

Gaara heard the water from the shower being turned off in the bathroom. He knew he should get out of her room and fast. Quickly, he walked out of her room and towards the other end of the hall into his room. His mind was completely confused.

What had he been thinking about when he was with her?

Those feelings of love can never be buried…

They'll never leave you alone…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Raxiel stepped out of her bathroom and into her bedroom. She quickly turned on the lights to be able to see the gigantic room again that Gaara had called "her own bedroom." Her eyes slowly gazed at the room from one end to the other. There was enough room in this bedroom that they had been able to fit a couch, a table, a desk, and a huge bed in there comfortably; and with the room looking out over a desert with huge wall to wall windows on the farthest side of the room, it made the room look even bigger.

Raxiel slowly walked towards the windows to look out at the moon. A door led outside to a porch where one could sit outside comfortably, and Raxiel decided she'd have a look outside tomorrow…

She was way too tired to be thinking about going out there right now.

As the made her way to her bed, something caught her attention. A tray of food was set on the bed, tempting for Raxiel to eat it.

"Oh shoot! Just when I want to go to bed, there happens to be food right on top of the bed, wanting me to eat it!" she said, now indecisive of what to do. Her eyes were about to shut on her, but her stomach was restless, making it all the more harder for her to choose.

Raxiel walked over to the light switch and turned off the lights, letting the moonlight be her guide to the bed.

"Maybe I can eat in the dark and let my eyes rest," she thought, laughing to herself about how silly this action of hers was.

"Tomorrow, I'll be better…

"Tomorrow, I'll be back to my old-self."


	32. Chapter 31

Chapter 31:

Sunlight…

Dawn…

A room brightened by the sun at seven o'clock in the morning...

That was what awoke Raxiel from her "long, deep sleep." When she opened her eyes to look at the clock and see how early it was, she was disappointed. She gave a loud moan and buried her head under her pillow on which she had slept.

Seven o'clock was not late at all…

Why did she have to wake up so early?

Wasn't this the day she was going to sleep long and hard?

"What happened to 'sleeping the day away'?" she questioned herself; her mind was beginning to wake up which meant that no more sleep would come to her this early morning. Her heart sank…

"Stupid windows with no curtains!"

After lying in bed for another fifteen minutes with refusal to get up, Raxiel finally knew that lying on her bed was not going to change anything. Quickly, she removed the pillow from her head and sat up in her bed. Her eyes were still getting used to the light as she started to think about what this day would bring. She knew for sure that Gaara would be busy, with the town being… basically destroyed and the people's houses being torn down from the war.

"I wonder how hard it has been for him…

"He must be pretty stressed…"

Raxiel got out of her bed and started walking towards her closet on the other side of her room. She remembered last night that Gaara had told her some of his sister's clothes were in her closet, and that she could borrow whatever she had in there.

As she opened the closet to look inside and try to find something to wear for the day, she decided that today, whether it was a good day or not, she was going to be as cheerful and encouraging as she could be to Gaara. Stress was something she did not want to have, and she didn't want him to have it either… or at least as little stress as possible.

It was her responsibility for the day…

Somehow, she'd make him smile…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Good morning!" Raxiel said cheerfully as she walked into the dining room. Gaara was in the room reading some sort of documents that looked important. He looked up from where his eyes were and focused them on her. He nodded slightly, acknowledging her presence. Quickly afterwards though, he started to concentrate back on the papers that were in front of him.

Raxiel didn't pay attention to his nod…

She was curious about the papers he was scrutinizing…

Slowly, she walked over to him and sat down in the chair next to him. Gaara glanced at her from the corner of his eye, wondering what she was doing. Raxiel started to lean closer towards him, looking down at the papers with a curious face. Finally, she asked him the question he had been anticipating for almost two minutes. "What are you looking at -?" Suddenly, she stopped and snapped back into her chair. "Or is it confidential?"

"She always has to know what's going on…" Gaara thought, sighing at the fact that he'd have no choice but to explain the documents to her. "It's a map and a list of everything that has been destroyed in Sunagakure. It also shows how much we owe Konohagure for their assistance in the war and how much everything will cost if we repair Sunagakure back to what it was originally like."

"Oh…" Raxiel said. Gaara could sense that she was still a bit sick from dehydration.

Either that or her attitude from the past five months of her absence with him had changed.

"Did your whole land get damaged by the war?"

"Most of it; not all of it. It still adds up though."

"Well, I would guess so. What about the townspeople? How many died?"

"About two hundred. Half of those people belonged to Konoha though."

Raxiel's eyes widened. Now she knew why he hadn't wanted her to come with him here five months ago. "They were all ninjas?"

"Most of them were," he said finally shifting his body to face her. "Some were only women and children. Half of them were even Jonin ranked ninjas."

"…Gaara?"

Sensing her change of emotion, Gaara looked at her with a little concernment. "Yeah?"

"I'm… sorry I argued with you when you told me to stay at Konoha. I didn't know it was going to be that bad."

Gaara eyes widened. She had never apologized to him. Especially for her stubbornness…

"Yes," he thought, "she must still be sick…"

Trying not to make a big deal of her apology, Gaara continued on with reading the documents. "It's going to be a long year for Sunagakure."

Raxiel nodded. She knew he was right. Most of the people had probably lost their homes. Most of the people had probably lost their businesses and would be broke for a long time unless they moved to another country. That would mean less population in Sunagakure and more desert wasteland for Sunagakure.

"Gaara?"

"Hn."

"…What are you going to do?"

Gaara looked up at her, noticing her eyes were locked onto the floor. "What is there to do? We, as a country, have to move on and do what's best for us. I'll be helping out those who are staying here since they have almost no money, and those who will be leaving will find a way of their own. It's not that complicating, and I'm sure you knew that. What do you expect me to do?"

"I don't know…"

"Hmm…"

Silence feel between them. Raxiel knew he was right, and there wasn't much else to do. Soon, she started to feel sad for the people here. They had nothing anymore, and, what's more, no jobs or anything to hold onto. No hope…

The only hope was that their leader would help them…

They trusted him…

"How long do you think it will take… to rebuild Suna?"

Gaara was about to answer when suddenly they heard a loud "THUD" coming from the kitchen. They soon heard someone start mumbling and cursing about something. Gaara looked up towards the door that led to the kitchen, and soon someone walked out of the kitchen. Raxiel's eyes widened by the sight of him due to his face being… panted?

"Who the heck is this kook?" Raxiel thought, bewildered by the man as he was rubbing the back of his head, looking as though he had injured it somehow.

"Man, Gaara, we've got to do something about how little space we have in the cupboards! I just got knocked in the head, thanks to a bowl finding its way out of one of those small compartments… -!"

Soon, the man's gaze turned to Raxiel as she was staring at him with the most bizarre look on her face. Quickly, the man smiled at her with acknowledgement of who she was. "Well! Is this the friend of Gaara's that we've heard so little about?" He winked at her as if he was joking with her like he'd known her forever.

"Kankuro…"

"Who-and-what?"

Gaara glanced at Raxiel to see her distorted expression. "Kankuro. He's my older sibling," he replied to her question.

"One of his older siblings," Kankuro corrected.

All Raxiel could do was look at Gaara's older brother with bewilderment. She was too shocked to say anything… maybe even too scared to say anything to this man with purple surrounding his face.

Kankuro quickly walked over to the two younger teens and held out a hand for Raxiel to shake. Trying to shake off her stupidity, Raxiel put her hand in his to shake politely. Raxiel tried to smile, but she was afraid that if she did, she would begin to burst out laughing, making the scene look even worse.

Gaara sensed her uneasiness and almost smirked at the fact that she was… almost scared to smile. Gaara had never been able to do that…

But his brother, on the other hand had…

It made Gaara a bit happier to know that she wasn't comfortable around every single person.

Soon, Kankuro turned to face Gaara. He quickly shook off his smile and began to talk…well… almost seriously. "So, Gaara, any news on what we'll have to do for Suna?"

"You mean, I," Gaara thought, but he did not take it any further than through his head. "Rebuild it," he bluntly stated to him as he closed the folder that held the documents. Kankuro almost laughed by the statement he had made, but Gaara interrupted his time to laugh. "I'm going out there today to take a look around to see it with my own eyes. If you want to make yourself useful, Kankuro, you could come, as well."

"Is that an invitation?"

"If that's what you think."

"Then I'll have to say no. Temari and I already have plans."

Raxiel had no idea where their conversation was going…

And somehow Kankuro noticed…

"Temari is also Gaara's older sibling. She and I are going out to talk to the townspeople to see what all they're complaining about."

"I wouldn't call it complaining," Gaara mumbled.

"Call it what you want. I guess we can try to get an estimate of how many are actually leaving and how many are staying here. Tonight when we get back, we'll give you the scoop; you and your friend go out and look at the 'landscaping,' and have fun."

"She's not going," Gaara replied. He did not like Kankuro's sarcastic attitude at the moment.

"What? Why not?" Raxiel asked with bewilderment.

"Yeah, why not?" Kankuro repeated her question.

"Because you are still sick. You're not used to the heat, and you wouldn't be able to last outside all day. You need to stay inside for today and get better."

Raxiel bit her lip. She knew he was right, but she really wished she could go.

"Aw, Gaara, come on! She can go out there for a few hours and be fine."

Raxiel was beginning to like Gaara's older brother…

"Who will take her back here when it gets to be the hottest part of the day?"

Gaara and his stubborn nature…

And he called Raxiel stubborn…

"You can take her back here when it's lunch time. You can eat here and then go back while she stays inside the house."

Deep inside, Raxiel was cheering for Kankuro to win this conversation…

He was better at arguing with Gaara than she was.

Soon, Gaara sighed. He looked over at Raxiel to see her looking up at the ceiling. He knew exactly what she was thinking…

She was looking up so she wouldn't laugh at them…

Either that or she was sick…

Excuses…

"Raxiel, do you want to go for a few hours?" he mumbled with defeat in his voice.

Raxiel quickly shifted her eyes to him with a huge grin beaming out of her face. "I'd like that a lot, Gaara, if you don't mind."

Gaara sighed…

Kankuro: one point…

Gaara: nothing…

Raxiel quickly glanced at Kankuro to see he was smiling just as much as she was.

Yes, she was sure she'd be able to get along with this… kook in no time.


	33. Chapter 32

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay. I have been having computer troubles (slaps computer). These next two weeks will be busy for me, so I might not be updating as often as I'd like to. For that I apologize for the future.

And again, thank you all for your encouraging reviews. They mean a lot to me, and please keep sending them whether they are encouraging or corrections (hey, no one is perfect).

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 32:

"Come on, Gaara! Let's get going before it's lunch time!"

Raxiel was running ahead of Gaara with a huge smile on her face while Gaara was standing way behind her, his face revealing no emotion.

"She doesn't even know where she's going…" Gaara thought to himself as she ran farther away into the heated desert just north of his house. Gaara sighed with irritation. "She's not even going the right way…"

Once Raxiel had disappeared out of sight for a few minutes, Gaara decided it was time to correct her mistake, and quickly he disappeared into a vortex of sand. After a few seconds, he reappeared right in front of Raxiel who had been taken by surprise and stopped quickly in her tracks.

Gaara knew he had scared her…

Gaara also knew that what her face revealed was not happiness… more like… angriness…?

"Why did you have to do that?" Raxiel snapped at him.

Gaara smirked. He had finally wiped that goofy smile off of her face. Now that he had her full attention, they could actually get going and, this time, the right way.

Calmly, Gaara replied to her question. "The village is the opposite way of where you are running to," he stated.

Raxiel's eyes widened. "Oh… Well, sorry. I was just in a hurry to get going."

"Being in a hurry doesn't always mean you can get things done faster," Gaara stated bluntly.

"Okay, you're right. Lead the way then!" Raxiel stated cheerfully. Soon, Gaara and Raxiel started to walk the correct way to the village.

"So which village are we going to?" Raxiel asked with curiosity.

"We're going to one that's west of the village you had first been to."

"How many villages were damaged by the war?"

"A few. At least ten."

"Wow… So where did you send the townspeople to?"

"The townspeople retreated to a hidden village that's south of here," Gaara replied. He was wondering when she would stop asking questions.

"Have they got any provisions or enough houses to stay in?"

"I think so. The village is pretty big, and it has enough to house at least two hundred people comfortably."

Raxiel started the wonder how many people Gaara had in his country. Besides the guards she had first been introduced to and Kankuro, she had not seen another person in his land. She wondered if they were as… serious as Gaara was.

Maybe they were a bit livelier.

"Are there a lot of women and children?"

Gaara sighed. He knew they could have been at the village by now if she wouldn't have asked so many questions. He turned around to look at her face. "Could you wait until we get there?" he asked bluntly.

Raxiel soon noticed his irritation from her, and her smile quickly faded. She knew his mind was on a lot of other things, and she was disrupting him. "Yeah," she said quietly. "Sorry."

Gaara did not want her to be disappointed. He wished he had enough concentration to try to get her smile back…

But right now, his mind was on what had to be done for his country.

Her smile was going to have to wait…

His mind filled with thoughts of her was going to have to wait…

Some things matter more than others at times, and he knew that well enough to try to push her out of his mind for a while.

As they continued to walk for another fifteen minutes, the only thing that could be heard was their feet crunching in the sand and a gentle breeze every now and then. Gaara could soon make out the village that they were going to. Another few minutes, and they would be there.

Gaara looked behind him at Raxiel who was looking down at the sand. He knew exactly how to get her smile back now…

"We're almost there."

Raxiel looked up at Gaara to see what he meant, and swiftly Raxiel looked at where Gaara was pointing ahead of them. Sure enough, the village was in sight. Raxiel gave Gaara a half-smile and nodded in acknowledgement of what he was showing her.

Gaara was glad to have her cheerfulness back…

Even though it sometimes irritated him, she wasn't the same without her smile.

"When we get there, stay close by me. There are a few Sound ninja left in a few villages that were left behind, and I don't know if any of them are still there or not."

"Why are they still in some villages? Weren't they defeated?"

"They were too proud of themselves to retreat. Orochimaru has many followers, but some of them are not the smartest people."

Raxiel started to wonder what this village would look like. Did they all look as bad as the one she had seen? Was this village going to be even worse?

"I guess I'll just have to wait and see, like Gaara said," she thought to herself. But what they saw was something Raxiel had never seen before.

Something horrifying…

Something they'd both be scarred with for life…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Sit down, and I'll fix us something to eat."

Raxiel sat down at the dinner table as Gaara walked into the kitchen to find something to eat. She was still in a shock of traumatism. What she had seen at that village had made her lose her appetite, and she wasn't sure how Gaara could even be thinking about eating.

Those dead bodies…

Those bloody corpses…

Hundreds of them... lying there rotting away…

And the landscaping?

The town?

There was no town left. It was… a barren desert with mutilated corpses lying everywhere. No matter where you stepped, you stepped on either bloody sand or a dead body.

Raxiel couldn't get the scene out of her head. Sunagakure had had something much bigger than a war…

It was a massacre…

"This Orochimaru guy… He's sure no dunce," Raxiel thought as she stared at the doors that led to the kitchen. Raxiel was waiting for Gaara to come out. "He's not a dunce… he's a maniac. What leader would throw away their followers so quickly only to lose to a battle?"

The sun had been beating down on those corpses for a week or so, causing the left over skin to be melting and sinking slowly into the sand. All of the fallen warriors didn't even get a proper burial.

"And there's no way Sunagakure can just rebuild over that," Raxiel thought disgustedly. It was as if Suna had been scarred immensely, and no one could ever repair those scars.

Gaara was right…

It was going to take a long time to rebuild Suna…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"How can Raxiel want to eat after seeing what was left of that village?" Gaara thought as he started to search for some kind of food out of the crowded cabinets. When he had told her he would get them some food, Raxiel had not refused which made him think that she might be used to the scenes from her other world where she used to live.

Just thinking about food made Gaara sick…

It almost made him want to vomit…

Fortunately, no Sound ninja were spotted, but he had not seen so many dead since when he had the demon inside of him and he had been going on "killing sprees." Sure, he was almost used to it, but after not having seen it for a few years, now it disgusted him. The blood that had lied in front of him only brought back unwanted memories. He almost cringed at the sight of it, which was something he had never done.

Gaara looked over at one of the counters to see a bowl holding apples in it. He picked up two of them and started to leave the kitchen.

Apples were the only things he could force himself to eat right now if he had to, since they brought back more pleasant memories…

Memories of her…

As he came out of the kitchen into the dining room, he noticed Raxiel's face which had not changed emotionally at all, but her face looked a little paler than usual…

"Raxiel," Gaara mumbled.

No response…

Gaara noticed she had not even made eye contact with him, and she was still looking at the same spot on the floor next to the wall.

"Raxiel," Gaara snapped, this time, a little more persistently.

He noticed her pupils were dilated…

Gaara quickly walked over to her and slammed the apples onto the table in front of her. The abrupt sound made Raxiel jump from her seat, snapping her back to reality. Raxiel looked up at Gaara's eyes to see seriousness… almost angriness in his eyes.

But Raxiel knew better…

His eyes that looked angry were only eyes with fierce concernment…

"Gaara?" Raxiel asked him with bewilderment as to why he had caused her to snap out of her mesmerization.

"You wouldn't respond when I called your name," Gaara stated, now sighing with relief.

"I'm sorry, Gaara. I was just thinking about the village we saw," Raxiel truthfully explained to him.

"You seemed like you were used to it. Are you?" Gaara asked calmly.

"Oh, no! Not at all. I thought it was sickening."

Gaara finally realized why she hadn't said anything on their way back to his house…

She was really traumatized by it.

But one thing did catch his attention, in addition to her truth she had just said. The whole four hours they had been at the remains of that village, she hadn't cowered away. She didn't cringe; she didn't even complain about the scene or the smell of the bloody corpses.

To Gaara's surprise, she was strong…

Strong mentally…

"So, that's what makes her strong," Gaara thought as Raxiel fixed her eyes on the two apples Gaara had carelessly slammed down onto the table.

"Raxiel, I'm not hungry. You're welcome to eat, if you want," Gaara mumbled as he got up to walk away into the family room. Raxiel watched as he disappeared into the other room. Quickly, she got up from her chair and ran into the family room to follow him.

As Gaara sat down to look outside for a minute before he left, he sensed Raxiel in the room as she sat down next to him. Soon, she was back to asking questions again. "Are you… used to the scene?"

Gaara finally shifted his eyes to the brunette that was sitting beside him. Her eyes were curiously fixed onto him, waiting for an answer. "When I was younger and was hated by all, I used to… you could say, crawl in the darkness, killing whomever looked at me with disgust. I killed at least two-dozen people when the demon was living in me, but it was because he lived in me that I wanted to kill more. It was my way of feeling… feeling something inside of me. I was used to it, but since it's been a few years and the demon has been taken out of me, I can only say that what I saw today disgusted me because it brought back those horrid memories."

Raxiel looked at him, her eyes were filled with concernment. "You have bad memories, Gaara?"

Gaara looked away towards the window. "Yes, most memories of mine are unpleasant. There are only a few memories I dare to look back on."

"…I'm sorry. I wish somehow, you could forget them; that's something no one should have."

Gaara glanced at her to see that she was also looking out towards the window, and for some reason, he was glad. Glad she had… sympathy for him?

"You shouldn't be sorry. It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, but I know what you mean. I'm sure everybody knows partly what you mean. Everyone has bad memories they don't want. I even have a few that I wish I could forget, but having your whole childhood taken away from you, that's got to be a memory that can never be taken out of you. For that, I feel sad for you.

And then, Gaara saw something even more… pleasant in her…

Something… beautiful…

As beautiful as her physical appearance…

Maybe even more stunning…

Her heart…

It was beautiful…

He saw in her something that had made him even more attracted to her…

Something that was one of a kind…

Red…


	34. Chapter 33

Chapter 33:

Raxiel had been waiting outside her room for the past few hours. Ever since Gaara had taken her back to the house and left, she had been outside her room on the huge balcony that stretched across the house's wall. She had been looking out at the desert, thinking about what all needed to be done for Sunagakure…

And mostly how she could help…

She knew Gaara wouldn't let her…

Even if he did, she'd be like a puppy that was leashed to its owner. Where was the sense in that?

"If I can't help out there in those villages, perhaps I can do something else in here that would help," she thought as she watched the sun begin to sink lower and lower until there was barely any light left.

"One thing is for sure," she said as she lifted the apple up she held in her hand and took a bite from it, "I refuse to not be able to help. He'll just have to think of a way that I can be most helpful."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"What a mess. You're in a bad situation, Gaara; that's for sure."

Kankuro had never been the "encouraging" one of the family.

In fact, was anyone in their family an "encourager"?

Gaara sighed as he and his siblings sat down on the couches in the family room to discuss what had happened the long hours they had been gone. "Just tell me what is going on," Gaara stated blandly. He didn't want this to be a long meeting where small talk was involved.

Kankuro finally spit out the information that Gaara had wanted to hear. "There are at least half of them that are leaving. That gives you only half of those townspeople to work with. The other half are moving on into Konoha, and the left over ninja from Konoha have agreed to help those who are moving by leading them to Konoha."

Gaara knew it...

Ever since their last war, which had been about a year ago, people had been complaining on how tough things had been for everyone. He had done his absolute best to try to rebuild the towns and to give them more than enough provisions for everyone, but since almost everyone knew about his past, most of them wouldn't give up the complaining which made things worse for the whole town by giving them empty hope.

Now, since this was their second war in less than a year, he knew people were not going to be thrilled about it.

Gaara sighed with frustration as he looked out to the window into the pitch black outside.

Maybe he was trying to get lost in it…

Unfortunately, it didn't work, for his other sibling had interrupted his time to daydream…

"Don't feel bad, Gaara. It wasn't your fault those people are leaving. You've done everything you can to make sure that they are all right, and if they can't understand that, than perhaps it is best that they left," Temari said optimistically.

So, maybe Temari, then, was the encourager…

Gaara grunted. Some "encourager" she was.

Back to staring at the pitch black nothingness that was outside…

"Gaara, maybe Temari and I can go back there tomorrow and tell them about your plans, since you do have plans, right, Gaara?"

"Hn."

Kankuro leaned forward towards Gaara. "And you were thinking about telling us them, weren't you, Gaara?"

"Hn."

Kankuro started to get frustrated. He glared at his brother persistently, determined to get information out of him. "Gaara, can we make this tonight?"

Gaara locked eyes with him. "Let me sleep on it," he said as he stood up, abruptly interrupting their meeting.

Kankuro stood up, as well, quicker than Gaara had. "Sleep on it? You don't even know how to sleep! Are you saying you don't have a plan on how to rebuild Suna yet? People are waiting for your orders. You don't have anything to say to them?"

Temari glanced at Gaara with concernment in her eyes. "He does have a point, Gaara. I mean, what are we supposed to tell them when we go out there?"

Gaara started to walk away to go into his room.

"Tell them 'soon'."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Raxiel's eyes opened when she heard the loud noise of a door closing upstairs somewhere close to her room, causing the walls in her room to shake for an instant.

She looked around to see that she was on her bed…

She had fallen asleep without even knowing…

She had fallen asleep without her own permission…

"Darn it! I probably missed the whole meeting!" she thought as she quickly stood up and ran to her door to go out into the hallway. The hallway was pitch black. Raxiel could pick out that Kankuro and Temari's doors were propped open, while Gaara's was closed.

"Why did he slam his door?" Raxiel questioned to herself as she made her way downstairs to see if anyone was still awake. "Perhaps if Kankuro is still awake, he can explain what has happened."

As she walked into the family room, her eyes soon fixed onto a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman who was sitting on the couch… just staring at the floor. Raxiel took another step towards her, and the woman soon snapped out of her mesmerization. Quickly, she smirked at Raxiel. "So, finally we get to meet."

Raxiel's brain soon started to work, and an idea was revealed in her head. "Wait. Are you Temari, Gaara's sister?"

"Well well, good guess. I'm the oldest of the siblings, in case you couldn't tell," she said almost as if she was bragging about it.

Raxiel smiled at her genially. "It's nice to finally meet you. I understand that you went with Kankuro to one of the villages."

Soon, Temari's smirk faded. "Yes, that's right," she said, sighing with a bit of disappointment.

Raxiel smile soon faded, and her eyes turned into concernment. "What happened?"

"Nothing," came a familiar voice from the dining room entrance. Raxiel looked up, and Temari looked behind herself to see Kankuro leaning against the wall near the dining room entrance. His face held a bored expression. "We talked to a few people, got an estimate of how many were leaving and how many were staying, and left. That was all we could do."

"Yeah? So what's with the sad faces everywhere?" Raxiel asked curiously.

"Gaara still hasn't made any decisions about what we're to do next. Where we're to build homes, what we're to build it with, and how many we're to build. It's like his brain is in a jam," he replied.

"He did seem a little distracted though," Temari said, almost defending Gaara.

"Well, he'd better get undistracted, or he could lose even more of the townspeople."

"Wait," Raxiel interrupted their… "argument". "He's losing townspeople?"

Kankuro nodded with disgust. "All because they're all too selfish about the past. They're complaining about how they want their old homes back, and they want them back now. Since Gaara is still 'thinking' about his next plan of action, half of the people in that particular village are leaving Sunagakure for good."

Raxiel's eyes widened. She was shocked at the fact that half of the townspeople in that village were leaving…

Half…!

"What did he say when you told him about it?" Raxiel asked.

"He just said to tell the townspeople, 'soon'," Kankuro replied with no emotion. Quickly he got up and walked into the kitchen.

"Gaara's usually quick about thinking what to do. I wonder if he really does have something on his mind," Temari said, not really talking to anyone, but just saying it out loud so it was heard and notified.

Raxiel wondered the same thing…

It was unlike him…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

What they didn't know was that Gaara had heard every word they had said…

Every single one of them…

While he was lying on his bed…

He had been, for the past few months, trying to see what it would feel like if he tried to sleep. Ever since Raxiel had told him he should try, he had wanted to see if he could…

Apparently, tonight would not be the night…

The only thing he had done while he was trying to close his eyes was to overhear their conversation of him and his "slow decisions."

What had caused him to be so slow?

They actually were right. He had been having a lot on his mind the past few weeks, and the first thing on his mind was not how to rebuild Sunagakure…

Every time her image appeared, he'd curse at himself for letting her get in his mind instead of him concentrating on his immediate responsibilities.

He knew he had little time to figure out what would be best for Suna…

That's why he said he'd sleep on it…

Tonight, he was going to finish his plan…

And tonight he was going to have no interruptions of anyone…

No images…

Nothing that wasn't immediate…

So he started to concentrate on his country…

His land…

His…

Knock he heard from the door?

Gaara snapped out of his concentration to hear Raxiel outside his room. She was… gently yelling from outside the door. "Gaara? Can I talk to you? Are you busy?"

"Yes!" he snapped in his mind. "Why does she always interrupt me?"

"I think I need to talk to you…"

Need…?

What was this about?

Before he realized it, Gaara had unlocked the door and had replied, "Come in." She opened the door and… stood beside the door. Apparently, she was a little uneasy about coming into his room when it was so dark and they were alone. Gaara cursed at himself for saying that. "What do you need?" Gaara asked. He had walked a few feet away to give them space so they weren't so close.

"I just thought you should know that we -… as in, your siblings and I, are concerned about you."

Gaara almost rolled his eyes at her. "You shouldn't be," he stated bluntly.

"I know, but usually you always have the answer for everything, and this time, it's as though you don't have the answer. Is that correct?"

Gaara didn't like where this was going. She was finding all his faults, and it wasn't even taking her but ten seconds to pull them out of him. "Maybe…"

"You know, you could ask for someone else's opinion. It's not a crime to do that sometimes."

"It is when you have never done it before."

"Well then, if you can't do it, then I guess I'll move onto my other topic. I want to help rebuild Sunagakure."

Gaara sighed with frustration. "Raxiel…"

"Come on, Gaara! I'm serious! It doesn't have to be that I go out there where it's dangerous (since I know you don't like it when I do that). It can be helping you try to plan this darn rebuilding. I'll even be happy with that," Raxiel pleaded.

"She knows better," Gaara thought, surprised that she had not argued with him about going out there where it really was dangerous. In fact, the job she had asked for was so simplistic, he was almost afraid to give it to her. He was afraid for some reason that she was trapping him. But he knew he couldn't refuse the offer she had just given him, and if she would be content with that, than he'd take it. "You can help me with the planning of the rebuilding, but that's all I will give to you."

"I accept," Raxiel stated cheerfully.

Gaara didn't like that smile…

It looked mischievous…

Gaara watched as she started to walk down the hall towards her room. "Where are you going? We haven't even started planning."

"I'm going to sleep on it," Raxiel said sarcastically…

Gaara knew that tomorrow, someone by the name of Kankuro was going to regret having told her he had said that.

As Gaara shut his door, he couldn't help but smile as he pictured in his mind the way she had walked down the hall.

She had an easy-going way about her…

He only wished that she would always be the same…

Never change…

Red…


	35. Chapter 34

Author's Note:

Sorry to distract you from the chapter, but I wanted to point out that a few months have gone by in the story. Once again, the characters are a little older.

I do have some… good and bad news at the same time. The bad news is that this story is almost to an end. That's bad news for you people who wish for good stories to just keep going and going, but all good things must come to an end, right? It should be good news for those of you who like the story, but really just want to get to the end. Anyways, just giving you a notice.

Onto to the next chapter:

Chapter 34:

If anything Gaara wanted, it was sleep…

If anything Gaara wanted, it was peace…

The stresses and cares of the world were, inch by inch, starting to make their way to his mind that had been blocking them out the past… approximately sixteen years of his life.

Now he was eighteen…

Another year had come and gone, but still no sleep came to him.

No matter how hard he tried each night, his eyes refused to close…

Insomniac…

Hour after hour went by through the long night as Gaara kept rethinking about the past few months. So much had happened, it almost seemed like a daydream that had passed by him without him even being aware of it. Raxiel had done a superlative job of planning out where the new villages would be. She had even drawn her whole idea onto a map, and it was a reasonable, well thought out plan of where everything would be. Gaara was amazed by how fast she had drawn up the whole thing.

As the months went by, the country had managed to make two new villages: one which was towards the west, and the other which was to the south of Sunagakure. They were huge towns that made the lives of the townspeople easier. They still had a long ways to go, but everything had been working out real well. Raxiel's plans were doing marvelous things for Suna, and the townspeople's spirits were raised with high hopes of getting more villages done by the end of the year.

Gaara knew that if Raxiel had not helped him, he wouldn't have been able to have kept so many of the townspeople here. Half of Suna was threatening to leave the country, but once Raxiel had announced her plan to the townspeople and they had started to work on it, fewer townspeople complained and threatened about leaving. In fact, most of the townspeople had grown… a bond with Raxiel.

"It was all because I let her go out into those villages. Now everyone knows her, and everyone wants to be her friend," Gaara thought as he tossed over onto his other side in the bed. "But if I hadn't have let her go to those towns, we wouldn't have come this far." Gaara knew they had more faith in her than they did with him. He knew exactly why those people wanted to stay and become better acquainted with her. There was some aura around her that just attracted people to her, whether she intended to or not.

It was almost as she was an exact opposite of him…

Months had gone by, and every day, Raxiel's trust had grown with him as his trust had grown with hers. Some nights, they would even stay up late together… just the two of them. They would talk about the most random things, and yet each conversation they had seemed as though it was necessary. The more he learned about her, the more amazing she seemed to him.

She almost… made all his stress go away…

When those rare moments when they were alone occurred, his mind was soothed, and his stress and cares were almost erased and forgotten until the next day.

Gaara finally sat up in his bed. There was no doubt in his mind that he would not be able to sleep tonight. He stood up and walked over to the window that showed the veranda outside of his room.

It was a full moon tonight, giving the sand a bluish tint and making his room light up with the moonlight. As he looked up at the moon, he saw her face again.

Gaara smirked. He started to think about Raxiel and if she was asleep or not.

He started to ponder in his mind what she'd look like sleeping…

Come to think of it, he had never seen her sleep before, unless you count the time that he had woken her up in her hotel room when she was a mess…

He started to wonder what she looked like when she was sleeping…

Was her breathing slower than usual?

Did she still manage to keep her smile on her face when she was dreaming?

Was her shoulder-length hair over her face, or was it kept behind her back?

He started to picture in his mind how the moonlight would look across her unconscious face…

"I shouldn't let things like this enter my head," Gaara thought as he looked away from the window towards the bare door across the room from him. That door seemed to be calling him to go downstairs. Gaara had no reason to go downstairs, but since there was nothing else to do in the middle of the night, he decided that there was no reason not to.

As Gaara made his way downstairs and into the family room, he swiftly stopped.

Something was on one of the dark blue, leather couch…

Something was breathing on it…

Something was lying on it…

Brunette hair and a petite figure was what Gaara saw as he cautiously made his way over to Raxiel. Quietly, he whispered her name.

"Raxiel?"

As he looked down at her face that was on one of the couch's pillows, he could not find the dark brown irises that made her big, dark eyes stand out.

She was asleep…

Just as if Gaara's wish had come true…

Gaara closely examined her beautiful figure are it inhaled and exhaled. As the moon's light made contact with her elegant face, Gaara almost thought that she was… an angel…? The strands of hair that fell across her face made her even more alluring to him. Dark circles under her eyes quickly alerted Gaara that she also had not had sleep for a long time. As his eyes made their way across her face down to her lower body, he watched as her chest glided outward and inward, almost hypnotizing him to her. Her usual covered hips were now visual as her clothing was showing off every curve in her body.

Gaara knew that if she caught him looking at her like this, he'd be in for one, long, darn good explanation.

He shook his head violently to snap him back to reality. "She must have been having trouble sleeping, so she came in here and accidentally fell asleep," he reasoned with himself. He knew he couldn't stay in here while she was in here asleep. It was too dangerous, and he didn't want to hurt her, especially knowing that she was a very modest person. And now that he knew every curve in her figure, he was going to be cursing at himself for many days now.

He was about to leave. He was about to do the right thing and not let his emotions take over him…

But when he saw the blanket on one of the other couches, he couldn't help but pick it up and gently place it on her.

Caring…

Never in his life had he been to… polite to anyone…

She made him want to do nice things like that…

And she never even asked him to do it.

What strange affects she had on him… and Gaara would never know the real answer to them.

As he glanced at her one last time, this time with the blanket covering up almost all of her silhouette, he heard her sigh and… a smirk appeared from her lips…?

She had been cold, and he had made her happy…

Gaara eyes widened when he heard her soft, pleasant moan, as if telling him that all was well tonight.

And Gaara was happy…

He was happy that she was happy…

He was happy that all was well…

Her smirk from her light red lips had told him everything he needed to know…

Red…


	36. Chapter 35

Chapter 35:

As Raxiel looked around her room, her mind started to race. It had been almost a week since the townspeople had done anything such as working on the other village that they were starting to build. She knew they were tired, but as more and more people heard the Suna was some-what rebuilt, more and more people started to come there, making the villages more and more crowded.

The working needed to continue, or else Suna would be back to the condition it was previously in…

Crowded…

"If the townspeople don't have any encouragement or inspiration, their hard work will probably start to slack," Raxiel thought as she sat down on her couch that was in her room. Her brain was exhausted from trying to think of a way to get Sunagakure rebuilt as soon as possible. The people just wanted their old homes back, but they were never going to get them if they didn't start working as hard as they could. They had been doing great the past few months, but Raxiel could tell "the heat was getting to them." Anybody could see something so clearly as that.

"What's a way to get their strength back…" she thought out loud to herself. Her eyes quickly gazed over towards the outer wall that led out to the balcony.

What was wrong, and what needed to correct it so it would be right?

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Few things can compare to Suna's cool wind blowing harshly in the hottest part of the day.

As Gaara leaned onto the railing of the balcony, he felt the wonderful feeling of the cool wind begin to blow his red-hair, making his body cool off only for a second. Somehow, as if by chance, every time the wind blew, no sand would pick up and travel along with it. Perhaps it was because the sand was much too dense to be picked up by the wind. Whatever the case, it made the wind almost like a blessing as the curse of the scorched sun beat down on Sunagakure.

Every day for the past few months, Gaara had walked down the balcony just a few steps closer to Raxiel's room. It was like that particular room was a magnet to him. He wasn't sure if it was just because Raxiel was using that room, or if it was because that room was also his father's when he was alive. When he was younger, he used to never want to go even near that section of the house. Too many horrible memories were brought back to him when he did. But now that Raxiel was in there, he started to wonder if that room was ever such a real nightmare or not…

He was having mixed emotions about it…

Today, he had walked all the way to it where he was just beside the windows to where he could see inside her room. The whole balcony looked the same; therefore, it was basically pretty absurd for him to be on the other side of the balcony from where his room was…

But he just couldn't resist…

He looked out towards one of the many deserts in his land. He was being tempted to look into her room, but he had just enough self-control to resist that action…

At least, until he heard a soft banging from her window…

Without thinking, as if it were instinct, Gaara turned around to look into her room. Gaara's eyes widened as he saw her by the window, forcefully smiling at him and waving to him as if saying, "hello" to him.

Just when he was hoping she wouldn't see him…

But then he noticed her hand motioned changed as if she was… inviting him to come inside…?

"No," he thought, "that wouldn't be right. She'd never do that…"

Surprisingly enough, she unlocked her door that led to the balcony and slowly began to walk away.

Gaara's eyes lit up with surprise. He knew that she always kept her doors locked just to be on the safe side, and her unlocking the door was… on purpose…?

Slowly making his way to the door, Gaara felt as if his legs were tied to the balcony where they could not make it to the inside of her room. After a few seconds of trying to get feeling back to his legs, he finally made it into her room, shutting the door behind him so that the cool air would not escape the room.

Gaara saw Raxiel lying on her couch. She looked exhausted from the way she was sagging into the couch; her legs were stretched out in front of her. Gaara slowly made his way towards her and stood in front of her, like a slave waiting for his orders from her.

He could not believe he was in her room… just staring at her without a word to say…

Finally, Gaara had enough courage to try to make a conversation. He turned his head to face one of the windows. "Fine weather, huh?" he said blandly.

…No response…

Gaara looked over at her to see she had an… awkward smile that was slipping more and more into a bigger smile.

Before he knew it, she was laughing hysterically.

Gaara couldn't think of what to do. All he had done was asked her a simple question, and he had gotten a huge laugh out of her. He thought the best thing to do now was to just leave… forget that any of this had happened to him.

But before he could, Raxiel had taken him by surprise by gently clutching his hand and pulling him towards the couch. Gaara looked over at her to see that she was still smiling, but this time it was more of her usual smile.

"Gaara, I didn't mean to burst out laughing. You just reminded me of something that had happened while you were here at Sunagakure and I was… somewhere else."

Konoha…

The mission…

What had happened?

Red Eyes had asked her the same question that he had just asked her. It was word-for-word… the exact same question. Raxiel had not found that question so humorous until he, Gaara out of all the people, had said it. Such coincidence that he would think of the question that had haunted her mind for all these months…

"Please, Gaara," she pleaded, trying to shake off the horrible memories, "sit down with me. I need to talk to you." She started pulling him again towards her and the couch.

The begging face that usual he accidentally put on was now on her face, but now that she was doing it, the same affects it always had on her were rubbing onto him. Obediently, he sat down and waited for her to talk.

Raxiel cleared her throat. Gaara soon caught on that she was getting sick from lack of sleep. "As you have noticed, or at least I hope you've noticed, the townspeople are getting a bit tired. I can't blame them; they've been working so hard for so long. But I think that since they have worked so hard for so long, we should do something as a… I guess you could say 'reward' for them. Anyways, what do you think?"

"A whole week without doing anything seems like enough of a reward for them," Gaara mumbled unemotionally. "Why should these people who have done nothing but complained get a reward? Isn't that bribing?"

Raxiel paused for a minute before she answered him, thinking of the right words to say. "Gaara, I know a lot of these people are a little… annoying. I know that they have not liked you in the past, or maybe they still don't like you. But hating them back isn't going to get you anywhere either. You'll end up like your father was, which I believe you told me was a cold-hearted, disrespectful man. Now if you want to take this a step further and try to gain the people's respect and trust, you are going to have to do stuff that you will not like and may think it's stupid, but in the end, those people's opinions about you might… just might change."

"And what if they don't?"

"Then you can call them fools," Raxiel said. Gaara quickly glanced at her to see her smiling. She winked at him as if to tell him that it would work. If he'd just be nice and courteous to the people, he knew at least a few of them would stop being such nuisances.

He'd just have to try…

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, that's where I am stuck. I don't know what to do. These people need a night off where they can just relax and have fun, but I don't know what to do…"

Raxiel got up and started pacing back and forth in the room, closing her eyes and trying to think of what to do.

Gaara watched her as she moved back and forth…

Back and forth…

"Are you suggesting a party?"

Raxiel abruptly stopped, her eyes lightened up with excitement. "Gaara, how did you come up with something so clever like that?"

"…She's the one who needs the vacation," Gaara thought as he stood up and walked over to her. He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Surprised myself, as well," he said almost sarcastically… but dully.

Raxiel smiled with cheerfulness. "What they need is a party where they can eat and hang out and talk. The kids could even come, as well; and there could be dancing… and –"

"And where are you going to get a place to do this?" Gaara asked, interrupting her happy thoughts.

Raxiel's smile slid away. After a minute of thinking, Raxiel hesitantly started to answer his question. "Well, we could use your house… -"

Gaara's widened. "You'd have to be half-crazy to make me believe we could fit so many as two-thousand people in here."

"Gaara, not everyone will come at the same time. It'll be a come for as long as you want when you want party. It would be good for the townspeople both to help get their hopes up and to let them know that you do care about their lives. The townspeople probably do like to have a party every now and then. It just makes people's attitudes more cheerful."

"She has gone crazy," Gaara thought, thinking about how this whole idea of hers would work out in the end. "I don't know…"

"Come on, Gaara! We won't know unless we try."

"She has a point," he thought, now realizing he really had no choice but to say yes to this whole concoction. "You have two weeks to plan it, Raxiel. Don't waist money either. We're going to need it for the other villages we'll be building right after this… bribery."

Raxiel smile grew wider as Gaara started to pretend to storm out the room. Really though he was not mad at all. He almost thought that the sound of a party would do everyone some good, even Raxiel and he.

If she was happy about it, he'd have to be happy about it…

Besides, if she was planning it, what could go wrong?


	37. Chapter 36

Chapter 36:

Apparently, everything could go wrong when Raxiel planned such things as parties…

Everything went completely wrong that night…

The night that their future would begin…

Hers and his… together…

It had started out to be a great morning…

Everything was the same as usual. The past two weeks, Raxiel and Gaara's older sister Temari had been working out the plans and details for the party that Raxiel said would be …"cheap"…

Altogether, it had come up to…

Gaara didn't even want to think about the cost. If he did, he knew nothing good feelings would come out of it…

Besides, Raxiel seemed so happy planning this. It had been a while since he had seen her smile so radiant as it had been the past few weeks. Even though she had been sick for a few days, that did not stop her from helping Temari out with getting the party ready.

Now the day had come…

All of those darn plans were coming together…

His house hadn't been so clean since… he didn't know when. The furniture in the family room had been rearranged so that there was enough room for people to mingle and dance. Food had been prepared for the people and was sitting out on the tables. Surprisingly enough, Raxiel had even asked a pianist from another country to come and play so they would have music. Never had he thought that this house would look so… inviting.

Raxiel was only half of the problem with money. It also occurred to Gaara that Temari was just as bad... maybe even worse than Raxiel was. Raxiel had told her that she really wanted to make it a simple party, but when Temari gave Raxiel some of her ideas, it all took off from there.

Gaara wasn't exactly mad about the whole thing though. The place looked really spectacular, thanks to the two of them. He was sure that everyone who came here would say the same.

Maybe this whole party wouldn't be so bad…

As townspeople started arriving that night, all Gaara could do was stand back in one of he corners in the family room. He was too traumatized by how many people were coming, and since he was unsocial, it made him very uncomfortable when the whole family room was packed with people.

Gaara noticed that Kankuro and Temari, on the other hand, were having a great time. It looked to him as though they were used to this whole type of scenario, as though they had done it a thousand times. He couldn't believe how much different they were compared to himself. Were they actually siblings?

But there was one thing Gaara didn't see that was upsetting him even more than the fact that all of these people were crowded into his house…

Raxiel was nowhere to be seen…

He had searched the room everywhere, but still he couldn't find her. He even searched the dining room and the kitchen, but for the whole hour that party had been going on, there was still no sigh of her.

Gaara was beginning to get concerned. Surely, she was in the house somewhere…

He was trying to picture her in a dress somewhere…

That's what he had been looking for, since everyone else was dressed up, except the waiters…

Waiters…

Once Gaara's mind quickly switched over to picture her in a waiter's outfit, he quickly spotted her. She was in a waiter's uniform, serving glasses of water to the people while making small talk. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, and she looked like a mess.

Gaara quickly walked over to her, trying not to run into anyone, which was quite difficult. Once he had made it to her, he tapped her shoulder to get her attention. As she turned around, she quickly smiled at him. "Hey, Gaara. You look nice," she said, looking at the same outfit he had worn almost two years ago when he had taken her out for dinner.

"Cut the small talk. Why are you serving water?" he snapped.

Raxiel's smile faded. "One of the waiters said they were short on people. He asked for volunteers, and I agreed to be one. Besides, serving people lets you be able to talk to people while you're giving them the glass or whatever is on your tray."

"Raxiel, you look absurd. Go upstairs and put something decent on. You're not going to be a waitress."

"Gaara -"

"That's an order."

Raxiel sighed. She knew he wasn't joking. His glare that he had fixed on her was a sign to get upstairs quickly. "I need to give someone this tray first –"

Gaara pointed towards the dining room. "Put it on the table. People can get their own water, if they have to."

"I don't have a dress –"

"Borrow one of Temari's," Gaara stated surprised at the fact that she hadn't thought about buying one for this occasion. Finally, Raxiel was obedient and went into the dining room to set the water down on the table. Gaara kept his eyes on her to make sure that she actually did go upstairs to change.

She was not going to be a waiter…

Not while he was here…

Someone pushing a glass of water into his chest soon interrupted Gaara's thoughts. "You know, I think she doesn't give herself enough credit. You ought to tell her that."

Gaara shifted his gaze towards his other side to see Kankuro standing next to him "politely" giving him the wine glass that was filled with water. "Why don't you tell her that yourself," Gaara stated. He was getting annoyed at everything. "This party shouldn't have been…" he thought with disappointment.

Kankuro smirked at him. "Oh, come on, Gaara! Lighten up. She was just trying to make the whole affair be perfect. She didn't know you were going to get all mad because she didn't look the way you wanted her to."

"Kankuro…"

With an awkward smile, Kankuro lifted his glass up as if to say "cheers." "Besides, I've got something I need to share with you…"


	38. Chapter 37

Author's Note:

Whew! What a chapter this has been! I just hope everything makes sense and it is as good as I wanted it to be! By the way, this it the final chapter of this story; therefore, it should be one of the best… right (laughs nervously)? I really hope it came out all right!

Anyhow, once again, I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to read this story! It has been so much fun to write, and hopefully I'll get some ideas and start a new story… sometime. I'm also grateful for all of your reviews. I'm very grateful to you all for taking the time to write up reviews, and for that, thank you very much!

Well, here we go with the last chapter! Please enjoy!

Chapter 37:

"I guess one can't look too bad in a simple white dress."

Raxiel quickly glanced at herself in the mirror to make sure she was decent enough for the party. The dress wasn't much. It was a basic, off-white dress that was a little above the knees. The straps circled her neck to give it almost a strapless affect, and the top edges of the dress were lined with a white silk. Raxiel actually couldn't believe she was wearing something that showed off much of her skin, but, for real, it was a modest dress that made her not sexy… not seductive… but just pretty.

And that was simply what she wanted.

She had taken her hair down and brushed it a few times, and Raxiel thought she looked pretty acceptable. White shoes with a bit of a heel was the rest that she needed, and quickly she went out of her room to go back to where the "life" was in the house.

When she came out into the family room, she saw that Gaara and Kankuro were off in one corner, talking quietly about something. Curious as to what they were talking about, Raxiel started to walk over to them.

"I just hope what they're talking about isn't confidential," Raxiel sarcastically thought as she closed the gap between her and the two siblings.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Gaara heard the sound of high-heel shoes coming towards his direction. As he turned his face towards the middle of the room where the dancing was, he saw a brunette-head trying to make her way over to them without trampling on the dancers or getting trampled on the dancers.

Soon his eyes widened with realization of who it was…

"Raxiel?" he said out loud to himself.

Kankuro overheard him mumbling to himself and smirked. "Well, didn't she get something decent on, eh?"

Once Raxiel had finally made it to them, she smiled at the two. "What's up?" she asked causally.

"Ohh… nothing. Just checking everything out, making sure that everything is okay," Kankuro replied nonchalantly. Abruptly he started to walk away towards the dining room leaving Gaara and Raxiel alone. Raxiel watched as he disappeared into the dining room…

Gaara couldn't take his eyes off of Raxiel though. Never had he seen her look so… amazing… and on purpose, for that matter.

Thoughts of the night that he had seen her sleep crept into his mind…

Raxiel's gaze quickly shifted onto him. "Is everything okay?" Raxiel asked, concerned by the way that he was staring at her.

Gaara barely heard her question, but it was just enough to shake off his impolite stare. "Yeah, everything's fine." Raxiel nodded in understanding, and soon her smile appeared again.

As the piano started to play another tune again, the dancers all started back up again with their dancing. Raxiel and Gaara watched as they all moved gracefully back and forth.

Gaara started to wonder what it was like to dance…

What did it feel like…

Raxiel turned towards Gaara to see his face full of curiosity from the dancers. Raxiel smiled at him. To her, he reminded her of an innocent little child just wanting to know more and more about life and love…

But he needed someone to help him find those answers…

She needed to help him, and she knew it.

Without one word, Raxiel gently grabbed Gaara's hand and started to pull him towards the "dance floor." Startling Gaara, he had no time to pull away and was easily pulled into the middle of the room. Once they had made their way there, Raxiel stopped and turned to face Gaara who had a bewildered facial expression.

Raxiel laughed…

Never in his life before had he ever danced.

She took his hands and gently yet firmly and placed them onto her waist.

Gaara's eyes widened. "What is she doing?" he shockingly thought as he looked around at the other dancers to see that the men all had their hands on the women's waist, as well. "She wants to dance with me?"

Gaara didn't have time to answer his question. Soon he found his eyes widening even more as he looked down at her face to see her smiling up at him.

Something was wrapped around him…

Her arms…

Gaara looked around again, and sure enough, the women's arms were wrapped around the men's neck.

She was going to dance with him…

She had entranced him into coming onto the dance floor and dancing with her…

Looking back down to her smiling face, her feet started moving, making Gaara become off balance. He tried to follow her lead, but every time he did, he'd end up stepping on her small feet, making them have to start over again.

After a few minutes of repetitive "stepping-on-feet," Gaara soon realized that Raxiel had stopped. He glanced down at her curiously to see her smiling. Swiftly, he saw her lips start to mouth two words to him…

"You lead."

Somehow, Gaara knew what that meant. After figuring out how the pattern worked, Gaara started to lead her as they gracefully danced back and forth…

Just like the other dancers…

Gaara was amazed at how Raxiel had been able to teach him how to do something like this so quickly. All Raxiel and he could do was gaze at each other - Gaara with a face full on anticipation for the next step, and Raxiel with a smile gleaming just at him…

Gaara knew it was only meant for him, no one else…

Minutes turned to seconds as they continued to glide across the floor. Gaara never wanted this wonderful feeling inside of him to end. Her smile radiated the whole room, making him want to keep dancing with her so that she would never let her smile fade away. But after a few minutes, the pianist stopped his playing, and all the dancers stopped with him.

Gaara was afraid to let go of the moment…

He didn't stop dancing…

Finally he heard someone whisper in his ear to snap him out of his daydream…

"Gaara, the music has stopped."

Gaara stopped…

He looked down at Raxiel to see she was still smiling, even though they were only standing there…

What made her keep her smile?

Didn't she tell him a while back that he was the one who made her smile?

As Raxiel let go of him and started to back away, Gaara slowly removed his hands from her…

Only for a second until he quickly clutched her hand…

Raxiel looked up at his face to see his face emotionless…

Perhaps there were too many emotions running through his head…

He had not wanted these feelings to interrupt him…

He had not wanted these emotions to interfere with him and her…

Before he knew it, he had gently pulled her towards the stairs with him, where they made their way up them. For some odd reason, Raxiel had not pulled away.

Gaara knew she had too much trust in him…

He opened the door into Kankuro's room, the closest room there was next to the stairs; and after leading her through the messy room, he opened the other door that led to the balcony.

His grip on her hand eased slowly as they walked closer towards the railing that bordered the edge of the veranda.

Raxiel had not said a word. Her face was with no emotions as well.

What should her face show after he had just pulled her with him to a secluded place?

Happiness?

Bewilderment?

Madness?

But none of these emotions were controlling her. For the first time in a long time… she felt emptiness…

Confusion as to what she should really feel after what they had just shared together…

Gaara meant to say something, but no words would come out to say anything. Not even his breathing was controlled. He was losing his control fast…

He didn't know what he should do…

So he remained silent…

Once Raxiel's hand had been released from his, she slowly started to walk over to her side of the balcony where her room was. As she leaned against the railing, she closed her eyes, listening to the pianist perform his enthralling music.

Gaara glanced over at her to see her eyes shut. The moonlight that shone down on her gave her the exact same appearance as she had had that night so long ago…

Too long ago…

The night that she had taught him so much…

"I found her."

Raxiel opened her eyes to see Gaara walking towards her. His steps were being consciously controlled. "What did you find, Gaara?"

"The girl on the moon."

Raxiel's face soon turned into realization of what he meant. "You did? Wow! I'm impressed…"

Gaara had finally made it to her. He looked out towards the desert that was ahead of them. Many people were leaving the party, especially those with children.

"Show me, Gaara."

Gaara looked at her to see her eyes were shifted onto the moon. He looked at her with bewilderment. "Show you what?"

"The girl you found on the moon. Even though, everyone else calls it a man on the moon, you still found it; and now I want to see it, as well."

"…Raxiel, you've already seen it."

Raxiel glanced at him with bewilderment. "What do you mean?"

"The girl on the moon; it's you."

Raxiel's eyes widened. "What?"

Gaara looked up at the moon. "The only time I can ever find her is when I'm looking for your face. Once I have that on my mind, I can easily find it. It's when I don't have your face in my mind that I can't find anything that closely resembles a face on the moon."

Raxiel smiled. "So that's your trick?"

"I guess so…"

Raxiel gazed up at the moon. "Maybe I should try that, as well."

Silence fell over them as they stared up at the moon. After a few minutes, Raxiel smiled, showing that she was giving up with defeat. "I guess you can't see everything in one's lifetime."

Gaara looked down at her, cursing to himself for having brought up the whole thing…

Even though she was still smiling…

Pretty soon, Raxiel had her eyes shut again. Gaara wondered what she was thinking about…

"Are you okay?"

Raxiel opened her eyes and looked at him. "Yes, I'm fine, Gaara. I was just caught up in my own world with the music."

Her own world…

What kind of world was it?

"Your own world with the music?" Gaara asked.

Raxiel nodded. "Music can take you to different worlds. If you just close your eyes and listen to it, you'll find yourself in a whole different place. It can be any place you want: a happy place or a sad place, a good place or an evil place. Music can control your emotions. It can make you happy or sad. And sometimes, I just like to close my eyes and travel away from one world to the next…"

Travel…

To another world…

What if she was going?

Where was she going away?

Now, he felt as if he needed to be by her in that world wherever she was. Seeing that her eyes were closed, he closed his eyes as well, trying to listen to the music and trying to feel the same place that she was. Pretty soon, she started talking again. "It's not just about listening to the music, but you also have to listen to your heart. Where does your heart want to take you…"

Gaara opened his eyes to see she was looking at him. She smiled at him and giggled a bit.

"Where do you want to go?"

He was losing it…

He wanted to be anywhere…

Anywhere whether it'd be here or Konoha or another world…

Anywhere as long as he was with her…

Raxiel took a step closer to him. "Don't let sadness enter your heart though, it will only make you bitter and angry. It will tear the heart and scar it for the rest of your lifetime."

Perhaps that was what he had done when he was a child…

He had scared his heart…

And the more he scared it…

The more people he had to keep killing…

The more and more people he had to hate…

Because that scar would go numb only by doing that…

But he never healed the wound…

"What heals a heart?" Gaara asked quietly.

Raxiel glanced at him. "What heals the wound?" she repeated, trying to think of what she should say. "Love is what heals. It is the ultimate solution to anything. Love is everything, you could say. If you can learn to love, then you can learn to heal your wounds."

Love…

Just as Yashamaru said…

If he could learn to love…

If he had…

And he already knew he had…

But he hadn't shown it to her…

Gaara turned towards the railing to look up at the moon again. Raxiel noticed and did the same. Moving onto another conversation, Gaara started to speak. "What do you think of having children?"

Immediately, Raxiel choked. She quickly covered her mouth up and started to cough. Gaara stared at her with a concerned look on his face. Finally, Raxiel responded. "I think it'd be great. Maybe sometime in the future I would be able to, but right now there's just too much going on."

Gaara hadn't meant to startle her. In fact, he wondered if he was actually thinking when he had said that. "Sorry… I've just been… thinking about it a little, since the Kazekage is supposed to produce offspring so his family can rule the land from generations onward."

"So soon?" Raxiel teased. "You're thinking about dying in a few years?"

"No, but should worse come to worse, it'd be best to have a child as soon as possible."

Raxiel shrugged her shoulders. "Just wait. You've got time."

"Raxiel, you don't know that. No one knows that," he snapped.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry," she said quietly.

Silence…

Gaara sighed with… frustration? "If I wasn't to have children, Kankuro would become Kazekage."

Raxiel laughed at Gaara's statement. "I don't think Kankuro is the best solution. I really can't imagine him running this country," she said, still laughing.

Gaara slightly smirked at the thought as well. He hadn't really thought about it until Raxiel had replied to his statement. "That is another good reason for me to get married soon."

"Gaara, when did this whole marriage thing become such a big issue?"

Gaara almost choked. He really didn't want to tell her why. "It isn't."

He lied…

"Then why are you making such a big deal about it."

Gaara looked away. He really didn't want her to know what he had learned about from Kankuro…

"Gaara?"

"Kankuro told me about the people who proposed to you."

Raxiel's eyes widened. She was hoping that no one had seen what had happened when she was in the village a few times. She knew that in this world it was not uncommon for people her age to get married, and that's why she had been offered so many times…

But did Gaara really have to hear about it?

Raxiel sighed. "So, Kankuro told you about it, huh?"

"Why didn't you accept?"

Raxiel laughed. "I barely know those people. Who wants to marry a stranger?"

Gaara gave her a half-smile. Raxiel was glad he wasn't upset about the whole thing, but why had he really gone into this long conversation about having kids and getting married?

Was he ready for it?

Raxiel tried to shake off the whole conversation, trying to forget about it. "We should go downstairs and say goodnight to the people who are still here."

"…The party will not end for another hour."

Raxiel's eyes widened. Had it really only been about twenty minutes that they had been out here…

Wait a minute…

Why was she nervous?

"You're right. My mistake," she said quietly.

"Unless you want to go back out," he mumbled as he looked downwards at the people who were leaving. Raxiel gazed at him and saw his light green eyes follow the people as they left. The wind blew, making his beautiful red hair wave up and down. Raxiel almost giggled as she thought about how ruffled his hair really was. Gaara caught her awkward smile in the corner of his eye and shifted his eyes directly onto her. Raxiel gained her composure quickly and gave him a calm and gentle smile.

As they were both facing each other, the pianist began another quiet song. Raxiel closed her eyes, and once he saw her closing hers, Gaara did the same. Raxiel quietly began to speak. "See if you can figure out what this song was written about."

Gaara was a little bewildered at first, but quickly he began to concentrate on the quiet song, trying to find the answer she wanted from him. After having heard some of the pianist's piece, Gaara gave his answer. "It's a love song," he stated, his eyes quickly opened to see Raxiel opening her eyes as well. She smiled at him and nodded. "That's right."

One could basically know just by how slurred each note of the piece was.

Raxiel took a step closer to Gaara. He noticed her eyes were focused onto the left side of his forehead.

Very soon, he felt something soft caressing the tattoo that was scarred onto his forehead…

He looked down to see her smile. "Gaara… what does the name mean?" she asked him. Gaara quickly realized that her hand was stroking the tender markings that were on his forehead. He almost chocked, but he calmed himself before it happened.

"A self-loving carnage…"

Raxiel looked at his tattoo with concernment. "It would seem like such a nice name, if only the meaning meant something different."

All Gaara could do was stare into her eyes as she studied the red marking on his face, but abruptly, Raxiel stopped. She started to put her hand down when he quickly caught her hand. Swiftly, Raxiel looked at Gaara's eyes.

"Don't stop…"

Raxiel's eyes widened, but soon her surprising face turned into only cheerfulness as she placed her hand back onto his forehead, tracing the markings one by one.

Gaara knew this was wrong…

It was all wrong…

Something about her made him want her even more…

Was it really her heart?

Was that what made him too attracted to her. Sure, she was beautiful… stunning to say the least, but it had to take more than just that to get him to let her keep touching him…

Maybe her heart could help his wounds go away…

Maybe she was the medicine he needed…

The quietness was quickly disrupted by Gaara's, quiet voice. "Raxiel?"

Raxiel looked at him, her head tilted to one side with curiosity.

"Can I… May I touch your face?"

He should have cursed at himself for saying such a thing…

His feelings as friends… being turned into something more…

But he was beyond the point of cursing at himself…

He should have killed himself…

Surprisingly, Raxiel nodded with a smile on her face, letting him no that it was all right for him to touch her. He had her permission to touch her face…

Slowly, centimeter-by-centimeter, his hand crouched up towards her face. His barely touching hand soon turned into stroking her cheek and caressing her jaw line. Raxiel tilted her head towards his hand as if asking for more…

Was she really thinking the same thing he was thinking?

To be more than friends…?

Not even realizing it, Gaara had stepped closer to her, letting his uneven breaths fall onto her fragile face. "This isn't right…"

"It would be right if we were more than friends… Are we?" Raxiel whispered.

Gaara felt her lips barely touching his, as if teasing him to come closer, though she was not meaning it that way.

The way of the mind can cause disturbance…

"I've wanted it to be…"

"Then… it is right… Because I have wanted it that way, too…" her voice trailed off.

Gaara wanted to kiss her. He wanted to hold her and have her lips pressed against his…

But he had never kissed before…

He moved his head away so they could see each other's face. Raxiel noticed Gaara's hesitant face, and soon caught onto why he was so uncomfortable. She smiled at him with a tender smile.

"Like this…"

Before Gaara knew it, Raxiel had moved her head up and pressed her lips against his forehead where his tattoo was stained onto him. Gaara's eyes widened as she made eye contact with him. She smiled again at him, giving him the feeling that it was all right…

Everything was just right…

Over two years they had known each other, and she had as much trust as she could have with him as he had as much trust as he could have with her.

Slowly, he moved forward towards her; and Raxiel did the same, her smile still showing on her lips.

This was what he had been waiting for…

This was what it was like to be healed…

This feeling of being healed and filled with joy…

He had never felt anything so wonderful…

Raxiel moved away for air, but Gaara grabbed both of her hands so she would not separate from him. Soon, Gaara pressed his lips against hers for more…

She was all he wanted…

Nothing else was needed now…

Gaara let go of her hands and stopped for air. Raxiel's eyes were still closed…

He knew she was content as well…

"Raxiel…" he whispered in her ear. All Raxiel could do was breathe. He knew she was still trying to take in all that was happening. "Raxiel, marry me…"

Gaara could see her feel body begin to sway. Gaara embraced her so she would not fall, his body feeling every curve of her frame. It felt so perfect. Their bodies fit together so well, almost as if they were two puzzle pieces that were made to fit each other.

Finally, Raxiel was able to speak. "Gaara… I… we don't even have a marriage license or anything that proves we'd be –"

Gaara smirked…

So, Kankuro was good for something…

Gaara gently placed one of his hands into his coat and pulled out a piece of paper. "Kankuro gave me this tonight. That's what we were talking about - the future and me having children." Noticing she was gaining her balance back, Gaara let go of her so she could see the paper he was holding. Raxiel read it, and her eyes widened. "A... marriage license?"

Gaara knew she wouldn't be able to explain this odd coincidence that had happened. Somehow, this phenomenon had happened, and all Raxiel had to do was sign it.

Gaara stepped closer to her. "Just sign it…"

Raxiel knew…

Gaara knew…

They were meant for each other.

Gaara took a step closer to her; his lips were barely touching hers. "Sign it…"

Gently with her hands shaking out of nervousness and yet happiness, Raxiel took the pen that was clipped onto the top of the paper. Seeing the line that needed her name on it, Raxiel started to sign it…

Until his lips were pressed against hers again…

How Raxiel knew what Gaara felt!

How she wanted to help heal him, and how she wanted to be healed as well!

Without looking, she signed the rest of her name and dropped the pen, and in an instant, Gaara's sand caught the pen and the paper and made its way back into the guord where it'd be kept safely there.

Gaara picked her up in his arms and carried her across the balcony, his lips still pressed against hers…

He was leading her into his room…

Tonight had been the worse night…

Emotions that should not have been were awakened…

But somehow, they both knew it was right. They knew they could never stay friends…

It wasn't meant to be….

They were meant to be friends and partners…

Lovers for life…

XxXxXxXxXxXx

**And there she was... just sitting there on that rock... waiting for something magical to appear on the horizon. Her eyes were like a child's, just waiting for her surprise. As he walked closer to her, he began to become tense. He did not think he was ready for what she about to say to him... at least, he thought so. But, no matter how scared they both were, he knew it had to be done, and nothing could change it. The past could not be changed for the present or for the future. So he gained his composer, and, as quietly as he could not wanting to frighten her, he made his way towards her. The closer he got, the more his eyes acted just as hers were...**

**Dancing...**

Gaara had dreamed this dream…

More of the dream became more of a nightmare as he could almost hear her saying "I must leave. Never will you see me again."

He tossed and turned in his bed for a few seconds…

Then his eyes shot open…

…!

Had he been dreaming?

Wait…

Did that mean he had slept?

Gaara looked around to see that he was in his room. Everything was the same…

Then his eyes widened…

_"I must leave. Never will you see me again."_

Gaara sat up and looked down beside him…

He looked down to the other side of his bed…

He looked as if he had gone crazy…

But there she was…

Raxiel…

She was sound asleep…

She had never left…

But still he wanted to make sure…

Gently he shook her to wake her up. Raxiel's eyes slowly opened as she saw Gaara crouched over her. She moaned for a moment, not wanting to get up just yet, and looked at the clock to see that it was six o'clock in the morning…

"Gaara, there'd better be a good reason why you woke me up at this early in the morning…" Raxiel said. She was still half-asleep, and Gaara could tell by her unhappy attitude.

"Raxiel, you're not leaving, right?"

Raxiel opened her eyes and gazed at him with bewilderment. "Leave? Why would I leave?"

"I dreamed that you were leaving…"

Raxiel soon snapped out of her sleepiness into full alertness. "You dreamed! You mean you actually slept!"

"Yeah, but –"

"That's great, Gaara! You're no longer an insomniac anymore! –"

His hand covering her mouth stopped her voice. "Raxiel, are you going away?"

He took his hand off of her to see her lips pressed into a smirk…

He didn't care if he had slept or not…

He didn't need sleep…

All he needed was to know that she would be there forever…

Raxiel lifted her hand up and combed through some of his hair. "Gaara, I promise I'll never leave you," she said to him softly.

Gaara's eyes slightly widened. "Never?"

Raxiel nodded, and that was all Gaara needed.

His face grew into a smirk…

His smirk grew into a half-smile…

His half-smile grew into a smile…

And their, his lips stayed. He gazed down at her loving eyes with a smile that stayed there for her to see. Raxiel smiled back…

"…You smiled."

Red…

Love…


End file.
